Recipe | Broccoli & Bacon Salad

 Hi lovelies! Now I may not have mentioned it before on the blog, but I am a broccoli nut. I cannot get enough of the stuff and a favourite snack of mine is a whole bowl of steamed broccoli with oyster sauce. I wanted to spruce up my usual snack and turn it into more of a lunch time salad. To be honest you can't really go wrong when bacon and pesto are involved. 

Serves 2 as main, or 4 as side salad

Ingredients

2 head of broccoli

175g (1 packet) of short cut bacon

Fresh pesto

Olive Oil

Juice of 1 lime

Sun Dried Tomato

Pickles (optional)

Parmesan Cheese to garnish

First things first fill a saucepan with water and add a pinch of salt. Whilst waiting for the water to boil separate your broccoli into bite size pieces. The most important part of this recipe is not to overcook the broccoli. Once the water is boiling add the broccoli, cover and leave until the colour has deepened to a rich green. Drain the broccoli and rinse in cold water to prevent further cooking. 

Whilst all this is happening trim the rind on your bacon and cook over a high heat until nice and crispy. Then just slice up into strips. 

The dressing is a really important part of this salad and I opted for something quite tart to cut through the saltiness of the bacon. I mixed a heaped tablespoon of basil pesto, good quality olive oil, and the juice of 1 lime. I also added in a teaspoon of the oil the sun dried tomatoes were sitting in. 

Now the next ingredients are optional, so feel free to substitute for other ingredients if you prefer. I added in some pickles for some extra tartness and some diced sun dried tomatoes.  This would also be lovely with some almonds on top. 

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, add the dressing and toss to make sure the dressing is well distributed. Garnish with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and you have a quick and delicious lunch. 

Personally I am a big salad fan, and I maintain that they never have to be boring. The broccoli was a great substitute for salad leaves. 

What are your favourite salad combinations? Are you a broccoli fangirl too?

Jess x