I guess it’s safe to say that the Christmas season is officially over as of today. I was finally able to keep away all the Christmas decors, ornaments, and gifts — both those that were given and those that were unclaimed — except for that Christmas-tree shaped lights on the door.
After a week, I think I have, for the most part, adapted again to routine. It’s back to school, back to work kind of routine. I’ve started juicing last week but I just couldn’t do the 3Day juice fast so I’m trying to just add it to the daily routine hoping it’ll become a habit.
I bought beets and watermelon from the supermarket yesterday to see if I could chug it up… It will go straight into the juicer tomorrow morning then to my customized water bottles.
Right now let’s talk about how I am totally smitten with this salad♥!
Can I just say I love Broccoli and I won’t stop buying them until it’s out of season?
I made this Broccoli and Grapes Pasta Salad this morning and I might have burnt the pecans a little.
If you are a follower of my blog, you’ll notice that I like adding broccoli to salads — specially pasta salads. It tastes superb with creamy dressings and I think it has something to do with that guilty feeling of having too much mayo..LOL!
Anyway, this salad has all the elements that makes up a great monday morning. The broc for your daily dose of veggie, pasta for carbs, lightly toasted pecans for that earthy flavor and crunch, grapes for some sweetness, and of course the light mayo dressing to give it a creamy finish.
Are you convinced yet?
Oh, and did I tell you THIS has BACON? No? This has lotssss of BACON!
I’m sure you’re already convinced how amazing this salad is!
Juicing will resume again tomorrow…I promise.
Broccoli & Grapes Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans $
- 1 cup penne pasta, cooked according to package directions
- 2 cups fresh broccoli
- 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 red onion, chopped finely
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, you can also use red wine vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 tbso calamansi or lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp freshly cracked pepper
- 1 cup seedless black grapes, halved
- 8 cooked bacon slices,cut into squares and fried to a crisp
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.
- Cut broccoli florets from stems, and separate florets into small pieces using tip of a paring knife. Steam for 1 minute, just until it turns bright green.
- Whisk together light mayonnaise, sugar, apple cider vinegar, calamansi juice, salt, pepper, and red onions in a large bowl; add broccoli, hot cooked pasta, and grapes, and stir to coat. Add more dressing if desired.
- Cover and chill 3 hours. Stir bacon and pecans into salad just before serving.
Notes
This recipe is slightly adapted from My Recipes
30 Responses
That is really yummy Pasta salad Peachy Love the colors and creaminess of sauce.
Thanks Swathi!
A beautiful salad! Scrumptious.
Cheers,
Rosa
Cheers Rosa!
This look so and the pictures are awesome!!!
Thanks Jenna!
Filled with all the goodness in one plate
★★★★★
Oh I love this salad. Thank you for this. I am eating salad for dinner nowadays.
I am aiming to eat at least one salad meal per day.
This looks really good! I’m thinking this would be a great lunch!
This is one great lunch. I agree!
This looks absolutely wonderful…will try it next week in Florida where it is warm. I love the combination of crunchy and sweet in salads. It reminds me of the chicken/almond/grape salad that my daughter makes.
★★★★★
Thanks Denise. Hopping over to your blog now.
Haaa! You got me at Bacon and grapes! haha this is nice. Something new, I like the pecans, adds quite the crunch and flavor. Although you still get the crunch with broccoli.
★★★★★
I know but the nuts lends somehow an earthy-nutty flavor 🙂
I love salads and this one really looks good. I’ll give this a try.
★★★★★
Wow yumm this seems really yummy and so fulfilling looking too.
Thanks Aisha!
not only colorful but mouthwatering as well, i’ll try this recipe sis, only that i will use wallnut because i have no pecans lol
★★★★
That’s okay. as long as there is nuts! Try it, super sarap!
This really looks yummy! Would love to try gumawa nito. Broccoli, nuts and bacon are my fave kaya bet na bet ko itong salad! Thanks for sharing your recipe sis! 🙂
You’re welcome Dhadha. I’m sure you’ll love this!
That looks like a great cold salad. 🙂 Hmmmmm…. I want to try some. 😉 We love pasta in this house. And you even added some pecans. 🙂 Yum! Good luck on the juicing. When we used to have a juicer, I do drink just fresh juice at night time with broccoli, celery, carrots, pears, apples and orange together. Or anything that we could find in our orchard or garden that is worth juicing. I love it and am saving up to get a good juicer. 🙂
A good juicer is really an investment. For the mean time let’s put veggies in our salads while still saving up for that juicer.
I have never tried fresh brocolli in a salad, gusto ko kasi is steamed sya.
I steamed the brocolli in this recipe mommy Rose. I also don’t like fresh broccoli.
I don’t like the taste of raw broccoli. I only eat them cooked or steamed.
I also discovered that recently. I like eating them than juicing them.
I’m sure that doesn’t only look good but tastes delish as well.
You’re gonna love this, specially if you love broccoli!