One thing about me is I love a summer side dish. God bless the recipe creators of pasta salad, potato salad, and macaroni salads because they are some of the best part of summer.

This week my friend Megan, who is a phenomenal cook, sent me a new recipe for Broccoli Salad! Her recipe calls for cranberries, but I don't particularly love mixing sweet and savory in my salads so I omitted them. I made a few adjustments using what I had at home and feel free to do the same. Her recipe calls for sunflower seeds, but I used pine nuts for their nutty and rich flavor. You can adjust to whatever you enjoy tasting or have on hand, but I highly recommend making the dressing that this recipe calls for!

The dressing made for this salad is a honey mustard, not your typical mayo base, and it is so delicious that I plan on making this dressing to place on my leafy greens. All the flavors from the red onion, tangy dressing, salty bacon, crunchy broccoli and pine nuts all just work so well together and balance each other out. I am growing some broccoli in my garden this year, and plan to make this dish all summer long! I hope you enjoy!

You will need:
6 cups broccoli florets chopped small
1/3 C red onion diced
4-6 strips of bacon crumbled (or bacon bits will work!)
½ cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons pine nuts

Honey Mustard Dressing:
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
¼ cup honey
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Salt/pepper to taste

This side dish all comes together in a matter of minutes. I would recommend getting all of your ingredients together in place so assembly becomes a breeze. Cook your bacon until crispy, shred your sharp white cheddar cheese, and chop your onion and broccoli into small pieces. Then, combine all of your salad ingredients into a bowl. If you are prepping this salad ahead of time, I would leave the bacon out until right before serving, so it does not become too soggy.

Next, add your dressing ingredients into a blender or a cup with a lid and shake well. It may need to be thinned out with a little bit of water if it looks too thick. My husband loved this dressing so much that he wanted a little more, so feel free to double the dressing recipe and use any leftovers on future salads!

Add your dressing to your salad ingredients, toss, and enjoy! I promise you, this recipe will replace the old broccoli salad you had on hand and become your new favorite!