Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Eat Your Broccoli!




I may have been a little over eager to eat healthy last week when I bought this massive 3lb. bag of broccoli at Costco.  Don't get me wrong, it's delicious and oh, so good for you but 3 pounds of broccoli between the two of us is a whole  lot of healthy!

It all started when we got this beautiful hand made invitation in the mail for my good friend Meg's wedding.  Since it's Spring  (I swear the grass is still green under the snow!) and Easter is on it's way and we have a wedding to go to it goes with out say that I need a little something new to wear.  Well, no one that I know likes to go shopping for new clothes when they don't feel like they look their best.  So with that said, I made the goal to loose 6 pounds before the wedding (which was about 20 days time).

Back to the broccoli!  Time to eat broccoli and shed a few pounds.  Ya know, broccoli is kind of boring when it's not covered in cheese sauce or ranch dip!  So here's a little salad that I whipped up with the things I had around my house so we can all enjoy it a little more.

Broccoli & Bow tie Salad
3 oz. Bow tie pasta
3 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup poppy seed dressing

Cook pasta according to directions on package, drain and cool.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir. This salad is best if used within 24 hours or you can make it ahead and add the cashews and cranberries just before serving.

Variations:
1.) Use pecans or sunflower seeds instead of the cashews
2.) Use golden raisins instead of dried cranberries
3.) Prepare a homemade poppy seed dressing
4.) Add 1/4 cup chopped red onion
5.) Add 1/2 cup chopped apple


Click here for a PRINTABLE VERSION of this recipe.

This recipe is quick and easy because it uses bottled dressing.  Lets face it, not every one has time to make everything from scratch all of the time. ;)
I hope you enjoy it - I can't wait for dinner!

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