Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

I've had this salad before, but never prepared it. O.M.G. It was good. Perfect for these hot Texas summer evenings. I brought it to a potluck dinner last night. LoL, someone else made a broccoli salad too! At least one person said they prefered mine because of the added cauliflower, but both broccoli salads were polished off by the masses. If you can find low fat shredded cheese and low fat coleslaw dressing, all the better, and you may need more dressing, depending on how big the broccoli and cauliflower heads are. If you can, start this the day before, to give the broccoli and cauliflower plenty of time to chill with the dressing and the flavors to blend.

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

1 head of broccoli
1 head cauliflower
12 pieces of center cut bacon (1 package)
1/4 red onion, diced
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup coleslaw dressing
1/4 c sugar
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T lemon juice (or sprinkle in about 1 t of True Lemon)
1/2 c craisins, soaked in pomegranate juice
1/2 c sunflower seeds

Trim and cut the broccoli and cauliflower into bite sized pieces. Wash and drain the broccoli and cauliflower and place in a large bowl. Mix in the coleslaw dressing, making sure to coat the vegetables well. At this point, I covered the mixture and put it in the refrigerator to sit overnight. It at least needs a couple of hours to chill so that the flavors mix.

Put the craisins in a small bowl with the pomegranate juice. This can chill overnight too.

Next Day: Cook the bacon until it's very crispy (I did this in the microwave). When bacon is cool, cut into small pieces. Set aside. You'll add these at the last minute along with the sunflower seeds so that the bacon doesn't become soft.

Stir the broccoli and cauliflower mixture. Add in the diced red onion, shredded cheese, chopped eggs and the craisins.

In a small bowl, combine the 1/4 c sugar with the apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Pour into the salad and mix well. When you're ready to serve, stir in the bacon bits and the sunflower seeds.

Enjoy!