Souplantation

This summer I ate at a restaurant called Souplantation several times while in California.  Souplantation is also known as Sweet Tomatoes in some areas of the US.  Unfortunately, I've never seen either one around here, but supposedly there are four in the state of Georgia.  If you've ever been to Sweet Tomatoes, you know how good it is.  The restaurant is buffet style.  You walk in a first you can make yourself a salad.  They have every topping you could possibly think of and they have a few prepared salads for you to choose from.  The salad is my favorite part of the dining experience.  They have soup, pasta, and delicious dessert, but nothing can beat the salad.  My favorite prepared salad is the sweet broccoli salad.  I was thinking about how good this salad was earlier today and I decided to look up some recipes.  Luckily, I came across the supposed exact recipe that Sweet Tomatoes uses!!!  I can't even describe the excitement that I am feeling.  I can't wait to go home and make this for my family this weekend.  I hope they like broccoli!

Ingredients:

1 head raw broccoli

1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon

1/2 cup cashews

1/3 cup raisins 

1/4 cup chopped red onion

Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise 

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Wash broccoli and pat dry. Chop off bottom 2 inches or so of stems and break head into florets. Place in a large bowl; add bacon, cashews, raisins and red onion. In a separate small bowl for the dressing, combine mayonnaise, sugar and cider vinegar; stir until smooth. Toss broccoli mixture with dressing. Let set approximately 10 minutes before serving. Serve on chilled salad dishes.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.