Crunchy Broccoli Salad

From Healthy Cooking (April/May 2010), page 43.

Prep/Total Time: 20 min
Yield: 10 servings

8 cups fresh broccoli florets
3 green onions, thinly sliced
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3 Tbs. canola oil
3 Tbs. seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbs. sugar
1/4 cup sunflower kernels
3 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

In a large bowl, combine broccoli, onions, and cranberries.  In a small bowl, combine oil, vinegar, and sugar; drizzle over broccoli and toss to coat.  Chill until serving.

Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and bacon.

Notes:
- The original recipe calls for an entire bunch of green onions, which seemed a bit much to me.  It also called for 1/2 cup cranberries, but I wanted more.  The nutrition facts listed below are for the original recipe.
- I didn't have seasoned rice vinegar, so I used regular.  I also decided to add about 1/8 tsp. ground ginger to the dressing and used already cooked and crumbled real bacon from a little bag that I bought at the store.  Cheating, I know.

Nutrition Facts (for original recipe):
3/4 cup = 121 calories, 7 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 2 mg cholesterol, 233 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein.

Delicious Salad

From Mom Larsen.

Serves 10.

10 servings salad mixture of romaine, spinach, or whatever greens you want
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
2 Tbs. sliced green onions
3/4 cup slivered almonds
Several teaspoons sugar

Dressing:
1/4 cup salad oil
1 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. almond extract

Heat almonds and sugar in a skillet over medium heat, stirring and tossing almonds.  Sugar will melt and coat almonds.  You'll know they're done when the almonds & sugar are a golden brown color and you can smell toasted almonds.  Cool on wax paper.

Mix dressing ingredients together until sugar dissolves.  Just before serving, pour dressing on salad and mix well.

Notes
- I used 1 bag hearts of romaine and 1 bag baby spinach
- I didn't measure my green onions; I just sliced up two of them.
- Since the package of almonds I bought was 1 cup, I used the whole thing.
- I've been experimenting with the vinegars I use.  The first time, I used rice vinegar.  The second time, I used half white wine vinegar, half rice vinegar.
- I also really like slicing up a bunch of mushrooms and adding them to the salad--I think it's great.