Broccoli is one of my favourite vegetables. I love the taste and how versatile it is. It’s also affordable, and available year round. I always have broccoli at home so when I was doing my recipe planning, I wanted to share a dish that I often eat for dinner during winter.
I love the massive plate of green veg, which is then dotted with excitement. Little nuggets of blue cheese (or feta or cheddar if you prefer) a pop of sweet cranberries and a crunch from the walnuts.
This is my kinda dish, simple, tasty and lots of goodness.
There are a lot of ways that you can change up this recipe too
- Instead of blue cheese, you can use feta or a chevre
- You can sub the Honey Mustard dressing for any of your favourite vinaigrettes
- This salad is lovely on its own, or serve it as a side dish when entertaining. It’s also lovely with some crusty bread and butter or a bowl of minty potatoes
- Make it vegetarian by omitting the bacon.
- You could swap the bacon for smoked chicken.
- Broccoli can range in size, 1 large head, or 2 small heads, works for this recipe.
- If you aren’t using runny honey, heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds so it is easier to spread over the walnuts. And it will also heat up when in the oven roasting the nuts.
Warm Broccoli & Bacon Salad
Ingredients
- 1 – 2 heads of Broccoli cut into florets
- 150 grams steaky bacon sliced into 2 cm pieces
- 50-100 grams Blue Cheese
- ¼ cup Dried Cranberries
- ½ cup Walnuts
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 3-4 Tablespoons *Honey Mustard Dressing see recipe below
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 180 degrees
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Toss your walnuts in the honey and season well with salt & pepper
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Place walnuts on a lined baking tray and roast until golden, stirring once while roasting, around 12 minutes.
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While the nuts are roasting, cook your bacon.
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Heat a pan over a medium heat and cook bacon until you are happy with the degree of cooking. I like mine not quite crispy, around 5 minutes cook time. Set aside.
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Boil your broccoli in a pot of salted boiling water. You want to watch your broccoli closely as it is the star of this dish and there is nothing worse than flabby broccoli. Cook for around 3 minutes, until just done.
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Take out of the pan, drain well, and place into a bowl, add the 2 tablespoons of honey mustard dressing and toss to coat.
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Place on your serving dish.
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Top with dried cranberries.
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For the blue cheese, I like to use a knife and wedge off little blue cheese nuggets onto the salad.
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Add the honey roasted walnuts, and bacon, and drizzle with a little more dressing.
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Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Instead of blue cheese, you can use feta or a chevre
You can sub the Honey Mustard dressing for any of your favourite vinaigrettes
This salad is lovely on its own, or serve it as a side dish when entertaining. It’s also lovely with some crusty bread and butter or a bowl of minty potatoes
Make it vegetarian by omitting the bacon.
You could swap the bacon for smoked chicken.
Broccoli can range in size, 1 large head, or 2 small heads, works for this recipe.
If you aren’t using runny honey, heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds so it is easier to spread over the walnuts. And it will also heat up when in the oven roasting the nuts.
Honey Mustard Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons runny honey
- 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
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Make dressing by adding all ingredients into a glass jar, shake, taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Tip – if you honey isn’t runny pop it in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. This makes a lot of dressing as it is delicious, and you can use it on so many things! Halve the recipe if you only want a smaller amount.
