Broccoli Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette

This is my favorite mayonnaise-free broccoli salad. I made it for our church small group this week, and this time I finally made enough so that there was a little bit left in the bowl for Michael to eat the next day as leftovers. I started with the following broccoli salad recipe; however, I have modified it because our friends and family like to eat a lot of broccoli, and because the vinaigrette in the original recipe was too sweet for my taste.

Broccoli Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette
serves 2 adults

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of raw broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces (about 2 broccoli crowns).
  
• 1 or 2 slices of bacon. To find a corn-free bacon, look for one that has just these ingredients: pork, salt, sugar, celery powder, and spices. I recommend a bacon I find at Trader Joe's called Classic Sliced Dry Rubbed All Natural Uncured Bacon. Another corn-free bacon is Hormel Natural Choice 100% Natural Original Uncured Bacon. Be sure that the bacon you use does not have any dextrose, sodium erythorbate, sodium lactate, or lactic acid starter culture.
• 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 1/2 to 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar, depending on how sweet you prefer it
  
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
  
• 2 tsp. olive oil
  
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped onion or shallot
• 1 or 2 Tbsp. of raisins
• 1 or 2 Tbsp. of sunflower seeds or toasted almond slivers

Instructions:

Put a large pot of water over high heat to bring to a boil. Wash the broccoli crowns and cut off the florets into bite-size pieces. While the water is coming to a boil, cut the raw bacon into 1/4 inch wide pieces and cook in a pan over medium heat until the bacon is browned and crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and place on a plate covered with a paper towel. To make the vinaigrette, mix together in a small bowl the white wine vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Then slowly pour in the olive oil while constantly whisking the vinaigrette, so that the liquid emulsifies. Finely chop the onion or shallot and then add it to the vinaigrette.

When the water in the pot has come to a boil, place the broccoli florets in the boiling water and set the timer for 1 minute. After exactly 1 minute, remove the broccoli from the water using a slotted spoon and place in a colander to drain all of the water from the broccoli. Then transfer the broccoli into a bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Leave the vinaigrette-coated broccoli in a bowl at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving. Immediately before serving add the raisins, sunflower seeds, and bacon to the broccoli and toss again to combine.