It's Natasha of Natashaskitchen.com,

and I am so excited to share with you

our favorite go-to autumn salad.

It is a broccoli grape salad,

and wait until you see the dressing.

It's literally four ingredients

and it is lip-smacking good.

To get started we're gonna make some bacon

and toasted pine nuts.

(upbeat electronic music)

Place a medium saute pan over medium heat

and add six ounces of chopped bacon.

Saute until browned all over,

then remove it to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Toast a quarter cup of pine nuts in a small pan

over medium heat, tossing often

until they're lightly golden and fragrant.

And it really takes just a few minutes to toast nuts,

so keep an eye on them so they don't burn,

and transfer them to a separate dish

to cool to room temperature when they're done.

You'll need one pound of broccoli crowns.

Finely chop them up into small, bite-sized pieces

and transfer them to your salad bowl.

Next, thinly slice half of an English cucumber,

or you can use a couple of smaller garden cucumbers.

Transfer those to the bowl with your broccoli.

You'll need 1 1/2 cups of seedless grapes.

You can use red or green grapes for this,

and it's easiest to cut them in half

using a serrated knife.

Transfer the grapes to the salad bowl,

then chop 1/4 cup of red onion.

And I like to finely chop the onion

so it adds great flavor and disappears into the salad.

Add your finely diced onions, your toasted pine nuts,

and your browned bacon to the bowl.

That's it for the salad, and now we're onto the dressing.

All you need is 1/2 cup of mayo,

one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon of salt, or salt to taste,

and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.

All right, just stir that

until it's completely creamy and smooth.

And look at that, it is such a good dressing.

You guys are gonna love this.

And if you are anti-mayo,

I get it, whatever.

Even though this is really, really good the way it is

and this is how we love it,

you could substitute with sour cream

or Greek yogurt, or whatever.

(chuckles) But try it this way first

because it's really good.

And make sure, make sure you use the fresh lemon

because it brightens up the dressing

and makes it super yummy.

Okay.

Now that the dressing is made

and our salad is prepped and ready to go,

all that's left to do is to pour the dressing over,

toss everything to combine, and serve this.

So that's exactly what we're gonna do.

And you can add the dressing to taste.

And I personally like to use every last bit of dressing

but maybe that's just me.

Okay, and then just toss until everything

is evenly coated in that luscious, creamy dressing.

And that dressing gives every bite amazing flavor.

That looks really good.

And time to serve it up.

Okay, generous portion for me because this is lunch.

This is definitely a hearty and filling lunch.

Or side salad, whatever.

(giggles)

Okay, here we go.

Little bit of everything,

because everything in here is good.

Mm, mm!

Mm.

I love that combination of sweet,

little bit of salty with the bacon,

oh and tangy from the dressing.

The lemon just pulls everything together

and makes each ingredient really pop.

And I love the toasted pine nuts in there.

It is such treat.

But you could also use seeds,

just make sure to toast them

because it really amps up their flavor.

And the sweet, juicy grapes.

Oh this is just a winning, winning combination.

And this is a really great potluck salad.

Just make sure you don't mix the dressing in

until you're ready to serve it.

But you can make the dressing, make the salad,

put it together, and you've got a party.

You're welcome.

Hey, by the way, if you're looking to improve

your cooking skills, I made a free course,

and I'll link to it in the description

so you guys can get your hands on it.

Make sure you sign up, and we'll see you

in our next video.