Broccoli Carrot Salad

Week 332. Summer 2022. I am 39 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like grilled food and garden herbs and this is my life. This is the life I built.

Tom made his trout on Friday, the way he does every Friday, and the fish was perfect, and the kitchen smelled like lemon and capers, and I sat at the table and ate fish that my partner caught and cooked and served, and the being-served is still a wonder after all these years.

Mason is 11 and reading everything he can find and examining the world under a microscope with the intensity of a tenured researcher.

Lily is 9 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.

I made grilled peach salad this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.

The grilled peach salad was the headline that week, but truth is, the side I kept coming back to was this broccoli carrot salad — something bright and crunchy and entirely without drama. After 332 weeks of cooking through every season of my life, the recipes I reach for most are the ones that just show up and do their job. This one sat next to Tom’s trout, next to the peaches, next to the string lights, and it belonged there the way I finally belong in this kitchen.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

4 cups fresh broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Prep the vegetables. Wash and cut the broccoli into small, bite-sized florets. Peel and shred the carrots. Finely dice the red onion.
Combine the salad base. In a large bowl, toss together the broccoli, carrots, red onion, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, and crumbled bacon.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, white vinegar, and sugar until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Toss and chill. Pour the dressing over the broccoli mixture and stir until everything is evenly coated. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to let the flavors meld.
Serve. Give the salad a good stir before serving. Adjust seasoning if needed.

Nutrition (per serving)

Broccoli Carrot Salad — The Thread That Connects Every Version of Me