paleo broccoli bacon salad
'm done with Whole30, but I'm still trying to eat whole30-ish. It's definitely harder, since we're done and added stuff back in, so the fridge is non-whole30 friendly, and when Dan cooks he cooks whatever, so whole30 type meals are more for my solo culinary adventures. I'd like to keep eating a more paleo diet. While I didn't feel very much of a change on Whole30, nor did I really experience any reactions after reintroducing foods, I know that eating whole foods is good for me and it's just laziness and poor planning that causes me to eat other stuff. Meal planning is still hard for me, but I want to keep trying because it does make it easier to eat well when I'm not shoving a loaf of bread in my face because I'm hangry. We also felt like we saved a lot of money by not going out all month, which was a definite plus. Eating out is another symptom of that laziness/poor planning problem, and we started doing it way more frequently than we should. It was a nice kick in the pants to knock it off and save money while simultaneously eating healthier. We did a ton of grocery shopping, but it makes more sense to be spending money on whole, raw foods, rather than paying a premium for restaurant meals.
I still have recipes saved up from when I searched for recipes during our whole30, and this was one that I saw and got excited to try. I actually like broccoli a lot, but I find that I rarely pick it up at the store. I like pretty much every preparation of broccoli too: steamed, sautéed, baked in a quiche, raw, baked like fries. It's such a versatile food that's packed with lots of good stuff for your body!
3/4 cup slivered or chopped almonds
1/4 cup red wine or apple cider vinegar
First, crisp your bacon. Preheat your oven to 375ºF. Place bacon on a baking sheet and bake until brown and crispy, about 25 minutes.
While the bacon is getting crispy, prepare the rest of the salad. Remove the leaves on the base of the broccoli and with a knife, trim off the "skin" of the broccoli stem, so you’re left with the tender, pale green center. Chop up the stem into tiny, bite-size pieces and do the same with the florets. Complete broccoli utilization–woohoo!
Get out a large bowl and add the chopped broccoli, vinegar, olive oil, almonds, raisins and salt + pepper.
Once the bacon is done, remove from the oven and let it cool. Once cooled, chop or crumble up the bacon and add it to the bowl. Toss everything to combine and serve immediately, or chill and serve later.
