If you’ve got some wilted or tired greens in the fridge, this salad gives them a whole new life! The warm, savory dressing wilts the greens even further, for a nice contrast in textures with hard-boiled eggs, crunchy red onions, crispy bacon bits, and smooth cubes of pear.
Hot bacon dressing, frugally made with the fat leftover after pan-frying the bacon, is a staple of PA Dutch cooking and is often served over iceberg lettuce, dandelion greens, or to dress potato salad. Some hot bacon dressing recipes call for flour, but this one is gluten-free!
PA-Dutch-Inspired Wilted Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
| Yield |
|---|
| Serves 4 |
| Prep Time | Cook Time | Total Time |
|---|---|---|
| 15 min | 10 min | 25 min |
The bacon should yield about 2 tablespoons of grease. If there is more than that, reserve 2 tablespoons in a small dish and dispose of the rest of the grease before returning the reserved fat to the pan.
Ingredients
- 6 cups salad greens (iceberg, romaine, spinach, or dandelion); use ones that are slightly old or wilted
- 4 slices bacon
- 2 tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 ripe pear, cored and cubed
Method
- To hard-boil eggs: Place eggs in the bottom of a saucepan and add enough cold water to cover the eggs by about an inch. Bring the water to a full boil, then place a lid on the pot. Turn off the heat and allow it to set on the burner for 10 minutes. After the eggs are cooked, move them to an ice bath or allow cold water to run over them. Peel and cut into quarters once they’re cool. Refrigerate until you’re ready to assemble the salad.
- Cook bacon in a pan over medium-low heat to render the fat and crisp the bacon. Once crispy, move bacon to a paper towel, leaving bacon grease in the pan (about 2 tablespoons).
- Add vinegar, sugar, and salt to the pan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
- Add the roughly chopped greens to a large salad bowl. Sprinkle onion slices, egg quarters, pear, and bacon evenly over the greens. Pour the bacon dressing over the salad and serve immediately.
- Recipe: Chelsea Johns
- Photo and video: Dish Works
