Broccoli Salad with Sun Dried Tomatoes, A GF Product Review and Giveaway

Through this relentlessly cold and snowy (and recently icy) winter season, I have been diligently trying to empty my chest freezer of several seasons' worth of chopped, pureed and oven-roasted garden tomatoes. I have been so diligent that I have in fact, run out of my homegrown tomato "gold", so I was delighted when Mooney Farms sent me a sampler box of some of their Bella Sun Luci sun-dried tomato products.

Mooney Farms is a family-owned company located in California, and has a wide variety of plain and seasoned sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil and resealable pouches of julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes. Dan and I popped the lid off the Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto with Pine Nuts the same night we received our package and mixed it over our warm pasta. The sauce is nicely acidic and we made sure to mop up all sauciness with the heel of our accompanying bread. Delicioso!

We also broke into a jar of Bruschetta and added a dollop to our omelets one morning. Very tasty once again.

A few days later, I added a couple of tablespoons of the julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes with Italian herbs to a batch of Broccoli Salad, and it added just the right notes of brightness and zing to an already delightful mix of salty, sweet and fresh flavors. My friend Nancy brought a batch of this great vegetable salad to a summer party last year and I pestered her for the recipe. Here it is below, with the addition of these Bella Sun Luci additions:

Nancy's Broccoli Salad

1 large head broccoli, cut into small flowerets (Nancy says: "I cut it very small and also the stems but skin them first or I buy a bag of broccoli slaw and just add the cut up broccoli crowns. I also  steam the broccoli just a tad sometimes.")

1/2 to 1 lb of cooked crisp bacon- chop or break up into small pieces (I used 1/2 lb.)

Red onion rings, chopped or diced (about 1/2 red onion)

1 cup shredded cheese ( Nancy says "I use sharp Cheddar, use what you prefer.")

Handful of radishes- sliced (Nancy says ":I tend to cut them into little "sticks")

1/4 cup raisins

2 Tbsp. julienne cut Bella Sun Luci sun-dried tomatoes

*Nancy says you can also add in diced apple, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds - all optional

Dressing Ingredients: 

1 cup mayonnaise

4 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup sugar

Combine cider and sugar until dissolved, add mayonnaise and stir until smooth.

Mix with rest of the above ingredients a few hours ahead of serving to mix flavors thoroughly.  (Nancy says: "I make the day before. It keeps well covered in fridge.")

Makes 8-10 servings. 

You can check out a slew of other recipes using Bella Sun Luci's line of sun dried tomato products back at the Mooney Farms website, or create your own and enter to win a $2,500 cash prize in the company's recipe contest by July 1st.

Now for the giveaway part:

Mooney Farms has generously offered to provide a giveaway of some of their Bella Sun Luci sun dried tomato items to a Crispy Cook reader. To enter the giveaway, you must leave a comment below by the deadline of April 2, 2014. You can also earn an additional entry by liking the Crispy Cook on Facebook. If you have already liked the Crispy Cook, just note that in your comment below and your comment will count twice toward the random drawing for this giveaway. Giveaway limited to U.S. shipping addresses only. 

Buon Apetito!

I am sending a virtual bowl of this toothsome Sun Dried Tomato Studded Broccoli Salad to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sundays event, where each week a sampling of soups, salads and sandwiches are rounded up from great home cooks around the world. 

**Note: I received a box filled with 5 jars of Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes and 2 bags of julienne-cut Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes from Mooney Farms, but I was not compensated for this post or obligated to post a review. As always, my comments are completely my own.