Fewer ingredients makes a simple broccoli salad even easier

I love broccoli. Yes, yes, I do.

I’ve loved it since I was a kid, the way my Mom always served it, topped with a dollop of mayonnaise.

Before you go: “Ewww …” hear me out.

In earlier times, some folks liked to dress their broccoli or asparagus with hollandaise sauce. Hollandaise is, essentially, warm mayonnaise made with butter instead of oil. For me, although I enjoy a well-made Hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise has a much lower hassle factor.

Besides being tasty (according to an AI search): “Broccoli offers numerous health advantages due to its rich nutritional profile, including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. It can support heart health, aid digestion, boost the immune system, and potentially reduce the risk of certain cancers. Additionally, broccoli may promote healthy vision, bone health, and brain function.” Wow, what a nutritional superstar.

Broccoli belongs to the cruciferous vegetable family, which includes cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, radishes and more. That’s a rather large family, with at least 21 members.

Recently, I decided to make a new version of my broccoli salad. With summer’s heat, no one wants hot broccoli as part of their dinner.

In 2018, I shared my special recipe for a broccoli salad. My tasty salad included 11 ingredients and several steps, such as blanching the broccoli as well as cooking and chopping bacon before it’s added to the salad. I trimmed it down to seven ingredients.

To simplify and speed up the process, I dropped the bacon, sherry vinegar, and broccoli sprouts, and switched from toasted walnuts to dry-roasted peanuts.

Chopping the broccoli florets eliminated the need for blanching (lightly cooking and chilling). I substituted regular raisins for the golden raisins, making a slight flavor difference.

Although walnuts are a very healthy nut, peanuts are a personal favorite. Dry-roasted peanuts are crunchy and flavor-packed and should have only two ingredients: peanuts and salt.

Be aware there are dry-roasted, salted peanuts available that have a fairly long ingredient list that may include: spices (including celery), dried onion and garlic, paprika, sugar, cornstarch, gelatin, Torula yeast, maltodextrin, dried corn syrup, corn syrup solids, and natural smoke flavoring.

My peanut choice had a label that stated “lightly salted.”

My new broccoli salad went together quickly and looked delicious. More important, it tasted great, with the peanuts’ salt enhancing the sweet raisins. Yum.

Give it a try.

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at 1leanwizard@gmail.com.

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Broccoli, Peanut and Raisin Salad

⅔ cup sugar-free mayonnaise (avocado oil preferred)

½ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 pound organic broccoli florets (from about 1½ pounds broccoli), washed and chopped

1 medium shallot, peeled, ends trimmed, and minced

⅔ cup raisins (organic preferred)

⅔ cup salted, dry-roasted peanuts

Add mayonnaise, salt, and pepper to a medium-large mixing bowl and whisk together until combined. Add broccoli, shallot, peanuts, and raisins and, using a large rubber spatula, fold and toss until well combined, adding more mayonnaise if necessary. Serves 8.

Notes: If holding the salad for more than 2 hours, know that the broccoli will lose its bright green color. Check the peanut can/jar to make sure that the only ingredients are peanuts and salt.

Substitutions: Toasted pecans, walnuts, or cashews may be substituted for the peanuts. Dried, sweetened organic cranberries may be substituted for the raisins. To cut fat and calories, low-fat mayonnaise may be substituted.

Nutrition values per serving: 176 calories (72% from fat), 19.4 g fat (2.7 g saturated fat), 16 g carbohydrates (13.1 net carbs), 8.5 g sugars, 2.5 g fiber, 4.4 g protein, 0 mg cholesterol, 255 mg sodium.

— Don Mauer