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Thursday, November 22, 2012

Alyson's Broccoli Salad Recipe, low-carbed!

Someone on facebook mentioned broccoli salad and I thought it sounded intesting.  After all, we LOVE broccoli!  While surfing for salad recipes, I came across Alyson's Broccoli Salad on allrecipes.com.  The data given says that it makes 6 servings--at 17.2 nC each.  I read through the ingredients and knew that I could low-carb it.  


Comparison--Alyson's recipe makes 6 servings @ 17.2 nC each.  The low-carbed version makes 18 servings at 6.4 nC each.  I think the main difference in the number of servings was that I used a bag of broccoli florets instead of a head of broccoli--that doubled the amount of broccoli in the recipe.  I also took the serving size to 1/3 cup.  My taste-test serving (pictured above) was 1/4 cup and it was PLENTY.  The salad is pretty dense and very filling.



Alyson's Broccoli Salad

Alyson's Broccoli Salad
recipe image
Rated: rating
Submitted By: JJOHN32
Photo By: cookin'mama
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 30 Minutes
Servings: 6
"Bacon sure does something wonderful for broccoli, and that 's the case with this great party salad. It 's fried up and crumbled and sprinkled on the fresh broccoli along with toasted sunflower seeds. Onions and raisins, also make an appearance."
Ingredients:
10 slices bacon
1 head fresh broccoli, cut into bite size
pieces
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sunflower seeds
Directions:
1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli, onion and raisins. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Pour over broccoli mixture, and toss until well mixed. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
3. Before serving, toss salad with crumbled bacon and sunflower seeds.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2012 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 11/22/2012

Now, let's low-carb it!

Most of the ingredients are already low carb.  That's good.  I debated about the raisins--you could use blueberries, strawberries, grapes, or cranberries instead.  If you are on Atkins, raisins are not Induction- or OWL-friendly.  Since I have been on Atkins for about 2 years and am fluctuating between Induction, OWL, and Pre-Maintenance, I went ahead and used raisins.  I used Splenda instead of sugar.

When I make a new recipe, I gather my ingredients first to make sure I have everything.  Here is what you need for the low carb version of Alyson's Broccoli Salad
  • bacon 
  • fresh broccoli
  • red onion
  • raisins--if you are on Atkins, use blueberries
  • white wine vinegar
  • Splenda
  • mayonnaise
  • sunflower seeds
 Check Alyson's recipe (above) for the amounts.


 My Notes:
  • I don't eat pork, so I used turkey bacon.  It worked just fine.
  • My son snacks on veggies, and we had a couple of bags of the pre-washed/pre-chopped broccoli in the house.  I used one of those instead of going out to buy a head of broccoli.
  • I am not a fan of huge chunks of veggie in my salad, so I chopped the broccoli into small pieces--1/2-inch to 3/4-inch size "cubes."
  • I didn't have red onion, so I used a white onion.  (Red onion would be prettier for serving, but the taste is not significantly different.)
  • Instead of buying a box of raisins (being a low-carber, I don't keep them in the house), I bought a package of six small boxes.  It took 2 of them to equal 1/2 cup of raisins and I can take the rest to church for the snack table.  Raisins get hard, so I'll just buy another small package the next time I want to make this recipe.
  • Using blueberries instead of raisins takes the carb count down to 2.6 nC per 1/3 cup serving.
  • It turned out that I only had red wine vinegar or cooking sherry in the pantry, so I used the regular white vinegar.  
  • I used Splenda instead of sugar.
  • I used salted sunflower seeds.  The recipe doesn't specify which to use, but I got the impression that the toasted ones would be better than raw ones.  
  • I made the salad the day before Thanksgiving and measured the bacon crumbles and sunflower seeds into a zip-lock bag.  I put the rest of the ingredients in a gallon-size zip-lock bag (for both mixing and storage).  When it was time to serve, I added the bacon and sunflower seeds to the broccoli mixture, resealed the bag, and shook things up until everything was evenly mixed.  Then I dumped the salad into a serving bowl 
  • I used a glass bowl that has a lid--for easy storage and serving after our main meal. 

Using the ingredients and amounts above, I got 6 cups of salad.  I found that 1/4 of a cup was a lot of salad, but I based the nutritional information on a serving size of 1/3 cup.  This added a great 'sweet' taste to my Thanksgiving dinner.  The raisins are a little too sweet for me, so I'll use blueberries the next time I make it.

The full nutritional values for both low-carb versions are below.

One serving (with blueberries) = 2.6 net carbs


Nutrition Facts

  24 Servings

Amount Per Serving
  Calories 122.7
  Total Fat 10.8 g
      Saturated Fat 1.8 g
      Polyunsaturated Fat 2.0 g
      Monounsaturated Fat 1.1 g
  Cholesterol 4.8 mg
  Sodium 124.5 mg
  Potassium 229.0 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 4.7 g
      Dietary Fiber 2.1 g
      Sugars 0.5 g
  Protein 3.5 g

  Vitamin A 16.1 %
  Vitamin B-12 1.1 %
  Vitamin B-6 6.7 %
  Vitamin C 79.7 %
  Vitamin D 0.0 %
  Vitamin E 19.7 %
  Calcium 3.0 %
  Copper 6.5 %
  Folate 12.4 %
  Iron 4.0 %
  Magnesium 5.2 %
  Manganese 12.0 %
  Niacin 4.5 %
  Pantothenic Acid     7.1 %
  Phosphorus     10.7 %
  Riboflavin 5.0 %
  Selenium 9.4 %
  Thiamin 4.0 %
  Zinc 4.0 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.


SparkPeople RecipeCalculator

One serving (with raisins)= 6.4 net carbs



Nutrition Facts
(made with raisins)


 18 Servings  (1/3 cup each)

Amount Per Serving
  Calories 175.1
  Total Fat 14.4 g
      Saturated Fat 2.4 g
      Polyunsaturated Fat 2.7 g
      Monounsaturated Fat 1.5 g
  Cholesterol 6.4 mg
  Sodium 166.3 mg
  Potassium 336.2 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 9.3 g
      Dietary Fiber 2.9 g
      Sugars 2.9 g
  Protein 4.7 g

  Vitamin A 21.4 %
  Vitamin B-12 1.5 %
  Vitamin B-6 9.5 %
  Vitamin C 105.6 %
  Vitamin D 0.0 %
  Vitamin E 26.2 %
  Calcium 4.2 %
  Copper 9.2 %
  Folate 16.6 %
  Iron 5.9 %
  Magnesium 7.2 %
  Manganese 16.2 %
  Niacin 6.1 %
  Pantothenic Acid     9.4 %
  Phosphorus     14.7 %
  Riboflavin 6.8 %
  Selenium 12.5 %
  Thiamin 5.7 %
  Zinc 5.4 %
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
SparkPeople RecipeCalculator 
 
PS: If you recall, this blog is primarily for my girls (who now live far away from home making their own lives) and my low-carbing friends.  To that end, I take you through the process of low-carbing a recipe when I use a pre-existing recipe as the basis for a low-carb dish.