Delicious Reading: Natasha�s Kitchen, and Broccoli Apple Salad

My husband has often said his favorite food is �cookout,� meaning he loves the combination of a big, juicy, grilled burger with all the fixings and a paper plate brimming with sides. My favorite part of any cookout or picnic is the salads: potato, pasta, fruit � I�ll skip the meat to go back for seconds of salads! My mom recently found a salad recipe she shared with me that is sure to become the hit of the summer.

The recipe originated from Natasha�s Kitchen at natashaskitchen.com, a blog hosted by a Ukrainian-American woman living in Idaho. Natasha moved to the United States when she was 4. While she grew up surrounded by a family of fantastic cooks, when she first got married, she and her husband ate a lot of frozen pizza, corndogs and take-out. She decided the summer after their first anniversary she was going to learn to cook. She checked books out from the library, pored over her mother and mother-in-law�s recipes and was hooked. She loved cooking and began to document her culinary adventures on a blog in 2009. That blog now contains a great variety of recipes that can be searched by category, cuisine, diet or ingredient. Another special feature of the blog are the videos Natasha provides that take you step-by-step through her recipes, including the one for this delicious salad.

Ingredients for Broccoli Salad:

2 medium broccoli heads, stems included, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 large carrot, grated

1 apple, cored and finely chopped

1/4 cup medium red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup raisins or craisins

Ingredients for Creamy Lemon Dressing:

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 Tbsp sugar, or add to taste

1/4 tsp sea salt

Pinch of black pepper

Instructions

Chop broccoli into bite-sized pieces, grate carrot, chop apple and thinly slice onion, then transfer into a salad bowl. Add toasted pecans and dried cranberries. In a small bowl, whisk together all salad-dressing ingredients. Add dressing into the salad to taste, and toss to combine.