Date and Chorizo Broccoli Salad

In the Galvin house, we can't get enough broccoli salad. Whenever I make it, we gobble it up with every meal until its gone. It's truly a race to the end of the bowl. It's become one of our favorite things for breakfast actually.

Broccoli salad is especially popular in the south where I grew up. Usually, its fresh broccoli florets combined with onion, bacon bits, raisins, maybe some nuts and tossed together in a sweet and tangy mayonnaise based recipe, with sugar and vinegar.

This is a fairly simple recipe to "paleo-ize" with higher quality ingredients, and I have found that it is really flexible to change up so it never gets boring.

The other day my husband was begging me to make more (even though we had just ate a batch the day before) and I said, "I can't because I don't have any more bacon or raisins." He responded, "I know we have some sort of pork you can use and we have dates. Make me some more!" Even though he was being insistent, he had a point! It doesn't matter what kind of pork it is, broccoli salad just needs SOME sort of pork. I had a couple links of hard chorizo in my fridge, so I came up with this new version, and it is AMAZING. I add the dates to the dressing itself and let them hang out together for a while. The dates sweeten the dressing without having to add any granulated sugar or sweetener of any kind.

For the dressing:

Ingredients

1 cup of Paleo Mayo (this recipe is my favorite)
1 tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 - 1 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper (I like a LOT, but its up to you)
1 teaspoon of organic granulated garlic


For the Salad:
3 cups of fresh broccoli florets
1/2 a small red onion, finely diced
1/2 a cup of hard chorizo, small diced *
1/3 cup of pitted medjool dates, finely diced

Instructions:

1. First make the dressing by simply whisking all ingredients in a large bowl.
2. To the dressing, add the diced red onions and dates and refrigerate mixture while you cook the chorizo in the next step.
3. Brown the chorizo in a small sauté pan over medium high heat. Hard chorizo is already cooked, but when you brown it, some of the fat releases from the sausage and the chorizo gets a little crispy like bacon bits. This should only take 3-5 minutes. Set the pan aside to cool for another five minutes.
4. Remove the bowl with the dressing from the fridge and add the broccoli florets. Don't mix yet.
5. Pour the browned chorizo bits AND any fat in the pan over the broccoli florets.
6. Now fold all of the ingredients together to incorporate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then check for seasonings to see if you need a bit more salt or pepper. If the mixture seems too dry, add a few tablespoons more of mayo and mix again.

*There are lots of types of hard chorizo, but I have found good quality hard chorizo at Whole Foods and other similar stores. Above I have also linked to an organic variety, but it is more of a specialty artisan brand. While completely delicious, it's not strictly paleo - just FYI. If you cannot find hard chorizo, you can also use loose crumbled chorizo, but just make sure to thoroughly cook it in the sauté pan. It will take just a little longer than I specified above.