Ingredients:

Two hard-boiled organic or local eggs (optional if you’re vegan or too impatient)
Organic bacon bits alternative
2 organic hearts of romaine
Organic shredded cheese or cheese alternative (your choice; either yellow or orange cheeses are great)
2 vegetarian breaded chicken patties
2 organic tomatoes
1 organic red pepper
Organic croutons

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Meanwhile, thoroughly rinse romaine hearts, then pat them dry with a towel.

Tear off any brown areas to compost them, then bunch the romaine with your hand and cut it into horizontal slices, working from the tip to the butt. Repeat for second heart of romaine. Compost the butts.

Dice tomatoes and red peppers. Compost the tomato core and red pepper cap and innards. While you’re chopping, reflect upon a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh: “We have to eat happy eggs from happy chickens.”

When the water boils, gently drop in eggs. Boil for three minutes or until they’re hard-boiled. Meanwhile, spread the sliced romaine hearts evenly between two plates. (This serves two, in case you haven’t already guessed.)

Cook the vegetarian chicken patties according to package directions, either in the microwave if you’re super hungry and need to eat soon, or in the oven if you want them to be more crunchy. (Of course, if you cook them in the oven, make that the first step before boiling the eggs.) Cut the patties into slices when they’re done, then arrange the slices on each plate of romaine.

Rinse the eggs under cold water until they’re cool enough to handle. Chop the eggs, or use an egg slicer and pretend it’s your least favorite politician’s head.

Sprinkle organic bacon bits alternative, cheese or cheese alternative, red peppers, tomatoes and croutons evenly onto each salad. Actually, don’t do it evenly–sneak just a few more goodies onto your salad.

You can use pre-packaged organic croutons, or you may be able to find crunchy organic or local baguette chips that you can crumble onto the salad. And if you’re in a pinch, you can simply crumble some organic crackers or tortilla chips that you may already have on hand.

The organic produce you use in this hearty salad is as limitless as your imagination. You can also try diced cucumber, shredded carrots, sugar snap peas–the list goes on and on.

This organic salad is really great with organic thousand island dressing. Or try mixing organic ranch and organic French dressing! Chow down!

Broccoli salad is a very versatile dish that can be made in an endless variety of ways. Here is a breakdown of the most popular ingredients and dressings.

1-Ingredients:

The first ingredient is of course fresh broccoli. 2 heads will do for an average sized salad. Chop the stem off and cut the flowerettes into bite sized pieces.

Next add some chopped vegetables. The favorites are onion, celery, carrots and cauliflower. Just add as much as you like until it looks like a good mix.

Some people like to add bacon. Fry up 6-8 strips until crispy, drain grease and set aside. Crumble bacon after it’s cooled and add to salad just before serving.

Any type of cheese can be used. It can be cubed, crumbled, shredded, or creamed as part of a dressing.

Fruit is often added to these salads, usually raisins. Also popular are grapes, cranberries, chopped apple, mandarin orange pieces, or any dried fruit.

Adding sunflower seeds or nuts to the mix gives the salad a little extra crunch. Almonds, walnuts, cashews and hazelnuts are good examples. Try not to chop the nuts too small. Keeping the pieces larger helps the flavour of the nut stand out a little. Toasting the nuts with a little seasoning is an option as well.

If you would rather not chop up any fruit or nuts just add some trail mix to the salad instead.

2-Dressings:

a. The standard dressing for this salad is a basic mayonnaise/vinegar/sugar mix:

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

* Mayonnaise can be mixed with yogurt to lighten it up.
* Flavoured vinegar can be used or substituted with lemon or lime juice.
* Artificial sweetener can be used instead of sugar.

b. An oil/vinegar dressing can also be used:

1/2 cup salad oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar(optional)
1/2 tsp. salt

* Flavoured cider or wine vinegar is recommended.
* Spices such as celery seed, onion powder, basil, and oregano can be added.

c. Your favorite bottled dressing can be used as well. Any creamy or italian style dressing will work fine on a broccoli salad . A good one to try is 3-cheese ranch.

3-More Stuff:

Here’s a few various items that could be added to make your salad something original:

* Any canned vegetable such as peas, corn or beans(black, kidney, garbanzo, waxed, etc.).
* Fresh vegetables such as mushrooms, chives, bean sprouts, green beans, cucumber and bell peppers.
* Seafood can make it interesting: shrimp, scallops, salmon, and calamari are good additions.

4-The Method:

* Add broccoli flowerettes and any other ingredients you are using to your salad bowl. If you are using crumbled bacon or bacon bits add them just before serving.
* Add your dressing, mix and refrigerate 2-4 hours or overnight.
* Stir salad again before serving.