Veggie Salad

 As many of you know, Michaela at an Affair from the Heart and I have been friends for many years. When we met her sweet daughter Kenzie was just six weeks old.  (And she was born on my birthday!) To give you some idea of our far back our friendship goes, I attended Kenzie's wedding recently!  Over the years we have shared many recipes and shared family favorites with each other.  I have a beautiful handwritten cookbook Michaela made me years ago with recipes that she is famous for, and many recipes belonging to her mom, grandma and other relatives.  It is one of my go-to recipe books and many of her long-time family recipes have been adopted and claimed by my family too.  You may also know my Devilish Nephew and his wife live in Denver.  The last couple of years we've begun a new tradition where Mr. Devilish Dish and I make a trip to see them around Father's Day and again in October to watch the OU-Texas football rivalry.  My nephew and his wife share a love of cooking like we do, and our visits consist of dining at some of Denver's best restaurants and then taking turns preparing newly discovered recipes for each other.  My nephew is quite the expert at smoking meat, and he wanted to wow us with a slab of ribs for football watching.  We built a totally Southern, football-friendly menu around his entrée, and enjoyed ribs, jalapeno pimento cheese, Coca-Cola Pickled Onions, pickles and THIS SALAD made famous by Michaela.  It's been a while since I've made this and I cannot believe I haven't shared this with you before, as it has been a pot-luck staple in our family for years.  My nephew had almost forgotten about this recipe, and he was quite glad we brought it back for his watch party.  It was the perfect accompaniment to his fall-off-the-bone ribs and a deliciously fresh and crisp side dish (far different from the usual potato salad.) Be sure and head over to An Affair from the Heart and you'll see why Michaela has been such a cooking inspiration as well as a dear friend for so long!

A crisp, colorful salad 
perfect for any potluck or bbq!

We have enjoyed this salad for years.
A family favorite for Michaela's family
AND mine...

This was the ideal side to my nephew's
mouth-watering ribs...

VEGGIE SALAD (AKA PEG'S SALAD)

from: An Affair from the Heart

1 head cauliflower, finely chopped
1 bunch broccoli, finely chopped
1 small package carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 package (8 ounces) shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 (16 ounce) package bacon, fried and crumbled
1 (16 ounce) bottle Creamy Italian Salad Dressing

Combine all of the ingredients and refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.  This can be made the day before. 

So many things have happened since I originally
drafted this post.  In addition to the years of recipes
Michaela has shared with me, she has now published her
very own cookbook available HERE