{recipe} broccoli slaw

What are you looking forward to this summer? I’m torn between keeping things simple and not to plan every weekend in the summer, but I also want to take advantage of the season and want to socialize every weekend. I’m sure I’ll find the right balance.  Usually when we have people over for pool party on a Saturday, I most likely will want to be alone and have quiet time on Sunday. This is how (I) an introvert recharges.

I’m already treating the month of May as summer, except for the rain we have forecasted later this week, the weather has been very warm all month. I mean, I already got a mean tan from wearing sandals, just from spending a few hours at Disneyland.

I’m also looking forward to dining outdoors, in our backyard. Now that our little guy is older, he doesn’t like to eat using his high chair anymore, and he can sit easily on our patio chair.  He is also a good eater, so I’m going to need to stock up on a lot of summer fresh food. Last week, we added hot dogs (we like Applegate or Costco brand) and whole wheat buns (Trader Joe’s) in our dinner rotation. We usually only crave hot dogs in the summer, so even our palette is ready for the summer.

I’m sharing this broccoli slaw recipe that I made several times last year, and will be making again this year. I’ve adapted the recipe, by using less mayonnaise and sugar, and added sunflower seeds. I like when the veggies stay slightly crisp in slaw dishes, I don’t like them soggy.

Broccoli Slaw

Makes about 5 cups of slaw

2 heads of broccoli
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted

2 tablespoon sunflower seeds

1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

Buttermilk Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken
1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (or, you could just use a little extra red onion to simplify it)

Trim broccoli and cut it into large chunks. I rough chopped it by hand then used my food processor to cut them more into tiny pieces, but next time I will try my mandoline.  I used all the flowerets and a little bit of the soft stem.

Toss the sliced broccoli with the almonds, cranberries and red onion in a large bowl. Meanwhile, whisk the dressing ingredients in a smaller one, with a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Pour the half of the dressing over the broccoli and add more as needed, toss it well. Season well with salt and pepper to taste. I didn’t use all the dressing because I didn’t want a soggy slaw, so I saved the dressing in the fridge, and used it for second batch of slaw later in the week.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.