Once I had decided on a main dish of turkey pastrami roll, I had to find a few side dishes to prepare along with it. So I bought some dried cranberries and broccoli, knowing that with those two ingredients, nothing could go wrong! I began searching online for a bit, and all the recipes were basically the same, with a couple minor differences, so I printed out a few different ones, and used them as a springboard: here is what I came out with.
I carefully let the fresh broccoli soak in water and vinegar. After a half hour or so I took it out and let it dry, almost completely. I added a fair share of dried cranberries and finally convinced myself to add cashews. (I usually don't like putting nuts in anything if I know I am having guests...) So I set that little mixture aside and went on to make the dressing. Annoyed, I realized I was missing some key ingredients in the kitchen, including red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar. So I had to improvise. I mixed together some sugar, mayonnaise, and balsamic vinegar. I whisked them together quickly and refrigerated it until the next day. (You have to make quite a lot of it in order to cover the entire salad.)
The next morning, I took the dressing out of the fridge and poured it on the broccoli salad, allowing it to soak for a few hours.
Let me tell you. This salad was... SOMETHING! The sweetness of the sugar combined with the sweet-ish taste of the balsamic vinegar complemented the simple taste of the broccoli and the salty cashews. This made a crunchy mix which was a perfect side dish.
It looked much better when it was nicely presented on a dish, but these pictures are those of the food 'in the making'. The colors have a really nice effect if you are serving this dish with a simple chicken or meat. It really enhances the look of the table, which I adore playing with, and it's just SO GOOD! And it is served cold, so you don't have to worry about heating it up!
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