A nostalgic Midwestern salad, rich with mayonnaise and cheddar cheese and flavored with bacon, is a perfect side dish for summer gatherings. The salad, which features broccoli and cauliflower, is a classic Midwestern recipe that has been a staple at family gatherings for over 50 years.

A Family Tradition

For Meggan Hill, a food blogger and author of “The Culinary Hill Cookbook: Modern Home Cooking With a Midwestern Heart,” the salad is a family tradition. Hill, a Wisconsin native, grew up with food at the center of every gathering. She recalls trying raw mushrooms with dill dip for the first time at a neighborhood block party and having a strong connection to food from a young age.

The inspiration behind the salad was Piggly Wiggly, a grocery store chain that was an early pioneer of premade deli salads. Hill’s grandma, mom, and aunts made this broccoli and cauliflower salad long before Hill was born. She was able to try it from the supermarket itself in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, during annual summer camping trips on Lake Michigan.

A Simple yet Delicious Recipe

The recipe is simple and can be made in just 25 minutes. It features 2 cups of mayonnaise, 1 cup of granulated sugar, ¼ cup of white vinegar, 4 cups of bite-size broccoli florets, 4 cups of bite-size cauliflower florets, 2 cups of shredded mild yellow cheddar, 1 pound of bacon, and 1 small red onion. The salad is perfect for picnics and potlucks, and Hill suggests starting with half of the dressing quantity and adding more after trying a taste.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.