Kay Wheeler Moore

Welcome to my blog

Hello. . .

The Newfangled Country Gardener is for anyone who has a garden, would like to have a garden, or who simply enjoys eating the garden-fresh way. I don't claim to be an expert; in this blog I'm simply sharing some of the experiences my husband and I have in preparing food that is home-grown.

About the author

Kay Wheeler Moore is the author of a new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, that features six generations of recipes that call for ingredients that are fresh from the garden. With home gardening surging in popularity as frugal people become more resourceful, this recipe collection and the stories that accompany it ideally will inspire others to cook the garden-fresh way and to preserve their own family food stories as well. The stories in this book center around the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls (Kay's mother and aunts) who grew up in Delta County, TX, with their own backyard garden so lavish that they felt as though they were royalty after their Mama wielded her kitchen magic on all that was homegrown. Introduced in Kay's previous book, Way Back in the Country, the lively Miller Girls again draw readers into their growing-up world, in which a stringent economic era--not unlike today's tight times--saw people turn to the earth to put food on the table for their loved ones. The rollicking yarns (all with recipes attached) have love, family, and faith as common denominators and show how food evocatively bonds us to our life experiences.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

This Broccoli Salad's good down to the last sunflower kernel

I’ve blogged about several broccoli salad recipes before, but this one has been in my collection longest and is a favorite around our house. Recently it was good down to the last sunflower kernel. Hubby and I were scraping the sides of the serving bowl for the last morsel before we put the bowl into the dishwasher.

We had a family meal in which I offered to prepare each member’s favorite dish. Of the first several items requested, none was green. Then the suggestion of a salad was offered to balance things out. I knew exactly what I’d fix. This Broccoli Salad is featured in my first cookbook, Way Back in the Country. Our daughter-in-law brought it to a family event many years ago. I don’t think many guests had dined on a broccoli salad before, so it was a terrific hit. Ever since then, even though I’ve read of many variations on this theme and have tried several, to me this one always has been the most tasty version.

Little broccoli florets, separated from the main broccoli crowns, are tossed with chopped red onion, bacon bits (I used turkey bacon), and sunflower seeds in a dressing of mayo, cider vinegar, and sugar (or sugar substitute). You can toss the whole thing several hours earlier (I did it this way) or wait and add the dressing just before serving.

You know all the health benefits broccoli has going for it, so you can’t miss with a serving of this wonderful veggie, but the taste of this combination is unexcelled as well. This was a pretty good “green” addition to all the non-green at our family dinner, plus Hubby and I—always great leftover appreciators—were only too happy to polish off the remains.

Broccoli Salad

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used lite mayo)
1/2 cup sugar (I used sugar substitute)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 bunch raw broccoli, diced
1/2 small onion, chopped (I used red onion)
12 slices of cooked, crumbled bacon (I used turkey bacon bits)
1 cup sunflower seeds, dry roasted

Make a dressing mixture by combining mayonnaise, sugar, and cider vinegar. Reserve and chill. Toss remaining ingredients. At serving time add dressing mixture to salad ingredients. Serves 4-6.


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