Crunchy Broccoli & Celery Salad

I learnt how to make this when I lived with my wonderful host family in Idaho, and we often had it with barbequed steak or fish. I have made a few variations - feel free to do so yourself!  One note of caution - dont try making it with frozen broccoli, it will be too soggy.

Ingredients

2 heads of fresh broccoli, cut fairly small

4 sticks of celery, sliced into 1/2 cm pieces

1/2 large red onion (white will suffice if not available)

1 tsp sugar

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp plain soya yoghurt, or (if you are not dairy intolerant - normal greek yoghurt or creme fraiche / sour cream will work). 

1 tbsp mayonaisse

For meat version: 3 thin rashers of bacon, chopped finely and fried until crispy, then set aside to cool on kitchen paper.

For vegetarian version: 2 tsbp salted chopped nuts. I prefer walnuts or pecans, but you can use whichever you like. You can also add some dried raisins or cranberries if you wish. 

Method 

Boil some water in a pan and steam the broccoli for about 3 minutes. You still want it crunchy but not completely raw. drain and allow to cool.

Finely chop the onion and fry in a little oil or butter until brown and add this to the broccoli.

Add the chopped celery and mix these all together with either the bacon or the nuts.

For the dressing, mix together whichever yoghurt you are using with the mayonaisse, salt and pepper, and sugar. You can also add some fresh parsley if you like.

Mix the dressing into the salad ingredients and chill until ready to serve.