Broccoli Apple Salad

(This recipe was first posted in conjunction with the Meijer Ad Week of 2/12/12 - 2/18/12)

A friend brought us this yummy salad as part of a post-baby meal.  We all loved it, which meant that I had to get the recipe!

Ingredients:

Salad:
1 bunch broccoli, chopped (use flowerets only)
1/2 - 1 medium red onion, to taste (diced small)
1/2 cup raisins
3 chopped apples
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
a sprinkling of sunflower seeds, to taste
Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tsp red wine vinegar

Directions:

Mix dressing ingredients and set aside.  Mix together broccoli, onion, raisins, and apples.  Add dressing to mixture.  Refrigerate 4-6 hours, then top with bacon and sunflower seeds right before serving.

Options and Tips

• Don't throw away the broccoli stalks!  Try making this salad again a few days later using only the stalks.  Raw broccoli stalks can be rather tough, but peeling them (as you would potatoes) and then shredding them will help.  Your salad will be more of a coleslaw this way.
• Don't cut costs by using Bac-Os or bacon bits.  The real bacon adds good flavor to this salad!  If you want to bring down the cost of the recipe, try using half the amount of bacon instead...but remember, you're not using the whole package of bacon anyway, just approximately half of it.

This recipe was given to me by Kelly Looyenga.