I know how lucky we are to be living in Europe. But I quickly forgot how spoiled I am when it comes to sports on TV in Europe. I rarely have to! Even though we have figured out how to watch our favorite US shows, live sporting events aren’t so easy. They are usually played in the afternoon or evening in the States, which is the middle of the night here. Rough on Jon, great for me. But with the start of March Madness, and a vast amount of games played all throughout the day, the computer has been streaming on overdrive and he has been awake ’til the wee hours of the night.
Since Jon doesn’t have many sports watching opportunities, I let him take over the TV this weekend. As much as I’d have liked to keep him company on the couch, the endless hours of basketball were more than I could handle.
I retreated to the bedroom, grabbed the iPad, and turned on Netflix. I found the ridiculous show, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and I was occupied for hours (thirteen episodes and all of season one to be exact). I cannot get the auto-tuned theme song out of my head for the life of me.
Though we enjoyed our Sunday for completely different reasons, we enjoyed our Monday for the same reason. First reason was that the sun was out and second was this broccoli avocado salad. He actually liked a vegetable dish that I made! It’s a miracle, I tell ya. I guess I just have to throw bacon on top of anything green and I may get a stamp of approval.
The other reason I liked Monday? Because I had dinner on the table in twenty minutes thanks to this salad and a hamburger patty.
And we had a break from basketball.
And this salad is creamy without mayo, making for a deliciously healthy dinner.
And it’s a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy, and a little bit salty.
Just how I like it.
- 1 head of broccoli
- 1/3 cup of raisins
- ½ cup of chopped nut of choice (almonds, pecans, cashews...)
- 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
- 2 ripe avocados
- juice from 1 lime
- ½ jalapeno, finely chopped
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider or white vinegar
- 4 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled*
- salt and pepper to taste
- Chop the head of the broccoli into bite-size pieces. Peel the broccoli stalk with a vegetable peeler, chop off the end, and cut what is left into small cubes. Throw the broccoli stalks and florets, raisins, nuts, and shallots into a medium bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mash the avocado with the lime juice until smooth. Add in the jalapeno, garlic, olive oil, water, syrup, and vinegar. Stir until combined.
- Pour the avocado dressing into the broccoli bowl and toss the salad to coat. Sprinkle bacon crumbles on top of the salad. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- *Turn this into a vegan dish by omitting the bacon, but be sure to add extra salt.
9 Responses
absolutely splendid. never would have thought of broccoli with bacon but it really adds to the overall dish. nice!
thanks Kelsey!
I usually let Rob take over the television on the weekends too (he loves his sports). I’ll have to make this broccoli avocado salad the next time we have a Saturday or Sunday at home — a nice alternative to tortilla chips and guacamole.
I don’t know if it quite replaces chips and guac, but I do hope you try it!
Sounds like the same problem we have here in the US when during the World Cup. I used to work at the British Pub in town, and during the World Cup they would show all the games live. Which meant serving beer at 7am sometimes. Haha! And I really want to start watching that Netflix show, it looks so funny and cute! This broccoli avocado salad is perfection. Love that you added bacon. Doesn’t bacon just make everything better?
Yes, bacon does make everything better! I was definitely at the bar drinking beer at 7am during the World cup 🙂 And next lazy girl sunday you have, you should probably watch all of season 1.
This salad looks amazing! I just love broccoli and avocados…and who doesn’t love bacon? Yum!
Although my husband isn’t a huge basketball fan, we do both love football and root for two seperate teams. So I understand the retreating to seperate rooms to enjoy your own favorites. However, I can’t understand European problems when it comes to watching USA sports, but I will say, I’m totally jealous of that situation! I’m also jealous of this bowl of broccoli & avocado lovin! Looks delicious.. and I love that you added bacon! Because, hello (!) everything is better with bacon 🙂 Thanks for sharing and cheers to a fantastic weekend!
glad you like it! And you are right, the whole sports problem is not a bad problem to have since we get to live over here 🙂 have a nice weekend yourself!