Broccoli, Grape, and Pasta Salad

Well… I continue to “Pin” things on Pinterest and was very pleased with this keeper recipe – Broccoli, Grape, and Pasta Salad. It was featured on a “My Recipes” Pinterest board and pulled from Southern Living, September 2011.

I’ve tried other broccoli salads that combine mayo, sugar, white wine vinegar, raisins, walnuts, peanuts or almonds. Some version of  a broccoli salad usually shows up at work or neighborhood potlucks. This was a tad different, but basically the same concept. I did make a few modifications to the recipe – I used light mayo and added pepper… I also used the entire package of bacon. :).

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Chopped Pecans
• 1/2 (16-oz.) Box/Package Farfalle (Bow-tie) Pasta
• 1 Pound Fresh Broccoli Florets
• 1 Cup Mayonnaise
• 1/3 Cup Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Diced Red Onion
• 1/3 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• Pepper to Taste
• 2 Cups Seedless Red Grapes – Halved
• 8 Cooked Bacon Slices – Chopped or Crumbled

My mise en place and my trusty iPhone with the “My Recipes” website open to guide me.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet for 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.
2. Prepare pasta according to box/package directions.
3. Meanwhile, cut broccoli florets from stems, and separate florets into small pieces using tip of a paring knife. Peel away tough outer layer of stems, and finely chop stems. I chose to steam my broccoli for 2-3 minutes in a covered baking dish with water. Note: You could easily use bagged broccoli to save on time.
4. Whisk together mayonnaise, sugar, red onion and red wine vinegar in a large bowl; add broccoli, hot cooked pasta, and grapes, and stir to coat. Cover and chill 3 hours. Stir bacon and pecans into salad just before serving. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pecans went into the oven…

Mayo sauce was whisked in a bowl…

Bacon pieces awaited their grease bath…

The salad was great. I brought it to a get together and it held up very well. I followed the directions and stored the pecans and bacon in separate baggies and added them into the bowl right before serving.

You could easily leave the bacon out. The fresh grapes vs. raisins was a nice change and the addition of pasta made it heartier. A good nut swap-page – yes, she said, “nut swap-page” could be walnuts, pine nuts or even almonds.

I welcome the Summer season… when BBQ’s, glorious salads, picnics, potlucks and pool parties are in full swing. Looking forward to spending time with family, friends and good food. How about you? Do you have a “go to” Summer favorite?

One last thing… I’m trying out a new recipe card plug-in for the blog – liking it so far. Gotta play around with the customizations some more. I did sign up for a yumprint account so I could use the “save” feature on my blog and others. The “print” feature allows you to print the recipe as a full page, full page with an image, 3×5 recipe card or 4×6 recipe card – pretty cool! Yay, another thing for me to use for a couple of weeks before forgetting my username and password. 🙂 Anyone else using yumprint?

[yumprint-recipe id=’1′]