Salads for Spring

It's finally Spring, and I've traded out my pitifully small repertoire of winter vegetable recipes for my favorites: salads.

Here are 2 that I promise you'll love:

Pea Salad

Cleburne Cafeteria in Houston makes a version of this, and we love it to death. Here is what I came up with to try to mimic theirs:

1 large bag frozen peas, drained
1 red pepper, cut into small pieces
4-5 scallions, cut small
1/2 cup+ of mayo - you'll have to eyeball it
Squirt of yellow mustard
Cheddar and Monterey jack cheese, cut into small cubes - again, use the eyeballs
celery salt and pepper to taste

Combine. Too simple

Another variation I thought of was to use blue cheese, red onion and apples in place of the cubed cheese, scallions, and red pepper. Haven't tried it yet, but I love just about anything with those 3 ingredients involved, so I'm betting it would work. You might want to use Dijon mustard instead of yellow, as well.

Broccoli Salad

I know "broccoli salad" aren't the most appetizing words you've ever seen, but you really have to try this recipe. It started out as something Whole Foods serves in the summer, and I messed with it from there.

Broccoli florets - enough for 4-5 people who really, really love broccoli
Mayo - start with 2/3 cup but you may need more. you want moist, but not drowning
Cheddar cheese - grated, at least 1 cup
6 slices bacon, cooked very crisp, then crumbled
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pecan pieces
1 shallot, cut up
3-4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3-4 Tbsp agave nectar
salt and pepper to taste

Cut broccoli into pieces and combine with all ingredients. Take 2 knives and "chop" salad until everything is in fairly even-sized pieces.

Husband is virulently anti-raw-broccoli, and he ate an enormous pile of this last night and proceeded to praise it to the skies. Proof that bacon and cheddar cheese can make anything taste good!