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.
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| Alyson's Broccoli Salad |
Alyson's Broccoli Salad
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Submitted By: JJOHN32
Photo By: cookin'mama
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"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
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3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sunflower seeds
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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
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
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One serving (with raisins)= 6.4 net carbs
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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.
Now I'm pretty excited. I found Ocean Spray Reduced Sugar Craisins (dried cranberries). They are 21 nC per 1/4 cup--which is HALF the carbs in raisins! I'm making this salad for the weekend...with Craisins!
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