3BM Kitchen : Summer Broccoli Salad

Summer has arrived (let's just ignore this week's less than stellar weather...) and of course us Londoners are wasting not a minute of sunshine! Parks are packed, men are topless, BBQs are smoking and the Pimms is flowing...perfection! 

We spent last weekend at our first official Summer BBQ party and despite the baby rain shower and cloudy skies, we made it through to the afternoon sunshine! A little worse for wear maybe, but with wine, Prosecco, G&Ts and Negronis on offer we thought we'd give the rain a good run for its money! 

When we were finally able to get those coals on, we tucked into the most delectable BBQ...Thai turkey burgers, meatballs, homemade guacamole, Polpo lemon and courgette salad (oh so good!), beef tomatoes with olive oil and basil and Parmesan and prosuitto pasta...the feast was endless! 

We awoke on Sunday, heads a little sore and legs a little achey...why could that be I hear you ask...potentially the attempt at a human pyramid or maybe too much much showing off at the cereal box game...both very strong possibilities!!! 

However, the long and short of it is we felt super inspired to knock up some summery BBQ style dinners this week, minus the BBQ (thanks to our lovely neighbours snitching on us). Plus as a sneaky bonus, it can be made quite healthy if you hold back a little on the bacon and dressing - although in my opinion these are the best bits! 

Super duper easy, very fresh and light but with great punchy flavours. The perfect BBQ accompaniment or delish dinner - we decided to demolish ours with a side of steak - YUM! 

You need...

2 x broccoli
6 rashers smoked streaky bacon, finely sliced
Olive oil
3 tomatoes, halved, deseeded and finely sliced
1 small bunch of fresh chives - finely chopped
For the dressing
½ clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Sea salt & black pepper

How to...

1. Remove the broccoli florets from the stalk and cut them up into smaller pieces to make bite-sized mouthfuls. 

2. When you are left with just the stalk, discard the tough dry base and slice the rest into thin pieces.

3. Blanch your broccoli florets and sliced stalks in boiling salted water for 60 seconds, you want it to soften but also be left with a bit of bite. 

4. Drain and spread out on a clean tea towel to steam dry (this helps the dressing to cling to the broccoli). 

5. Once dry, transfer to a dish.

6. Fry the bacon on a medium heat with a small splash of olive oil until crisp and spoon over your broccoli. 

7. If you have any leftover fat in the bacon pan be very naughty and pour it into the mixing bowl with the dressing ingredients and whisk...

8. Add the tomatoes and chives to the broccoli and bacon bits. 

9. Finally add the dressing to the broccoli bowl and serve alone or along side meat - we opted for rare steaks - YUM!