Broccoli Slaw

Summer has arrived and along side it... fresh veggies from the garden.  Nothing beats baskets overflowing with summer squash, snap peas, scapes, sage, oregano, swiss chard, and raspberries.  If you don't have room to grow your own garden, make sure to check out your local farmers market.  Talk to the vendors and find out what their favorite varieties are to grow and how they grow them.  The slugs have won out this year on our broccoli (well, at least till we plant our fall crop of it), but I was able to barter some of my bread for broccoli and chinese cabbage with the vendor next to me at the market. I seriously love bartering food with food or beer for food. Anyway I had 3 large crowns on broccoli to turn into something delicious. I came across this recipe from smitten kitchen and it was incredible!!!

Ingredients:
2-3 heads of broccoli
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted
~1/2 cup or more dried cranberries
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar


Directions:
This is not required, but I prefer to blanch my broccoli first.  Boil water on your stove, and add your broccoli for 30 sec- 1 minute. This softens the broccoli just enough for those who don't like it raw and it also brightens the green coloring of it.
Chop up your broccoli heads first and then your stalks into small pieces. Place those into a bowl with your cranberries and chopped onions.
If you have sliced almonds place them in an oven at 350 for about 5-10minutes to toast them. Toasting really brings out the flavor in the almonds. Add the almonds to the broccoli mixture.


Mix up the dressing ingredients, and add to the broccoli mixture. If you didn't use 3 heads of broccoli you might not need all the dressing.

Voila! Refrigerate and enjoy!