Colleen, I make a variation that has half broccoli, half cauliflower. My daughters like me to add raisins and sunflower seeds, extra bacon, LOL. They both dislike "leaves" but love this stuff.

Annie

There was one with dark green leafies like that. :)

Congrats on finding one that both of you like!

I forgot to add that you sprinkle it with flaked almonds before serving 😁

That sounds different! Sort of a riff on a hot spinach salad. When I saw the use of bacon, I thought it might be like a broccoli salad that was very popular here around 20 years ago. iirc, the old popular salad here was made with (raw) broccoli, bacon, red onion, sunflower seeds, raisins, and a dressing of sweetened mayo. I sometimes crave it and make a bowl for myself with dressed broccoli, raisins, and red onion. :)

The recipe also had halved grapes in there but that just seemed too weird…

I say give it them a try when prices come down. I’ve found that grapes showing up in weird places can actually work surprisingly well. Chicken salad comes to mind, which is also a mayo based dressing.

Ir egularly make a marinated veggie salad. It's pretty well most of the vegetables you can think of ( broccoli cucumber onions peppers,carrots zucchini cauliflower peapods, halved cherry tomatoes)I quickly blanch and chill the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots and the rest are raw.....dress with a dijon vinaigrette ( 2 T dijon mustard, 2 T honey 2 T cider vinegar 1 T balsamic 1/3 cuo or a little more olive oil and about a rounded teaspoon of dry oregano. And a generous sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese. Dress about 2 hours before serving.....can add a drained can of corona beans or chick peas or canellini beans....be careful of dark kidney beans as the color will stain the other items....also olives are good added. I have also added some cooked penne pasta...if the crowd is larger than expected....a LOT of pasta!

I also have made is seasonal....like only broccoli, cauliflower, red peppers,w hite onion and cherry tomatoes at christmas

Linda, that mixture also sounds like it would be good with brown rice instead of pasta for a crowd. A friend makes a rice salad with brown rice which is similar and I love it.