Recipes

[Carol1229]

Has this ever happened to you? You see a recipe in a cookbook, magazine or on a website that stops you in your tracks, makes you think "WHOA, I need to try that soon" and you can't stop thinking about it?

It happens to me all the time.........

This recipe is one of the latest to do that to me. I saw the photo on Pinterest, followed the pin to the blog and the minute I saw it I KNEW I wanted to try it.

We love salads of all kinds, especially ones that use unusual combinations of ingredients. Fruits and vegetables mixed together are always a plus.

My friend Susan's Mom introduced us to the famous Broccoli Salad with bacon and dried cranberries a while back. That's a good one for sure.....but I've sort of gotten away from mayonnaise-dressed salads these days. This one uses an ingredient I absolutely love in cooking and baking-Greek yogurt.

The grocery store FINALLY cooperated and had fresh broccoli and strawberries at a good price last weekend so I KNEW this salad was going to be on the menu.

In looking at the ingredients, I noticed that Ari made this to entice her little girl to eat broccoli. Her version was more on the sweet side than I wanted.

Rather than use coconut and cinnamon, I opted for finely chopped red onion and a little shredded Monterey Jack cheese. I thought that would go well with the broccoli and strawberries.

My friend Susan's Mom introduced us to the famous Broccoli Salad with bacon and dried cranberries a while back. That's a good one for sure.....but I've sort of gotten away from mayonnaise-dressed salads these days. This one uses an ingredient I absolutely love in cooking and baking-Greek yogurt. I used the same ingredients that Ari used in hers but cut the honey back to 1 Tbsp.....that worked very well as a dressing for this.

I can't say enough good things about this salad....and it couldn't be much easier to make.

It's the perfect blend of sweet and savory with the broccoli and strawberries, the onion gives a little background flavor, the Monterey Jack cheese gives a smoothness and richness and the cashews add a nice crunch along with a little salt. The dressing is tangy from the yogurt with a touch of sweetness from the honey and richness from the balsamic vinegar.

I would be a very happy girl eating this and nothing else........BOY is it good. And different-what a great salad to take to a pot luck-I bet there wouldn't be another one like it there....and all it would take is for one person to give it a try and you'd be going home with an empty bowl.

The first photos of the salad are it was mixed to show the pretty pop of colors in that bowl-the last 2 photos are the finished product.

I served this Sunday night with roast chicken, long grain and wild rice and cucumber salad-Bob declared it a winner and so did I.

Thank you SO much Ari for creating this wonderful dish...I know we'll be enjoying it a lot this summer.

Carol

STRAWBERRY BROCCOLI SALAD

(Source: adapted from Ari @ The Diva-Dish-original recipe HERE)

SALAD:

1 1/2 c. chopped fresh strawberries

1 1/2 c. chopped fresh broccoli

1/4 c. salted cashew halves (if using whole cashews, chop)

1/4 c. finely chopped red onion

2 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (1/2 cup)

DRESSING:

2 Tbsp. low fat plain Greek yogurt

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp. honey

Combine the strawberries, broccoli, cashews, red onion and shredded cheese in a large bowl; toss together to mix well.

In a small bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, balsamic vinegar and honey until smooth.

Pour the dressing over the salad; toss to coat. 4-6 servings.