Sunday, March 17, 2013

Bacon & Egg Spring Salad for #SundaySupper

This salad was born out of necessity, and now has evolved into something of a delicacy in our house. Just ask my mom. I made it for lunch yesterday for my extended family: sisters, brother-in-law, niece and nephews. My mom, food matriarch who taught me everything I know, proclaimed, "This might be the best salad I've ever tasted." That was pretty cool to hear.


Here's how this perfect-for-this-time-of-year salad became a popular regular: One night last month we were out of the staple ingredients I use for a quick salad to go with dinner. (Namely, black olives and roasted red peppers.) The cupboard was pretty bare for some reason. But I found a can of corn and a can of black beans. So I improvised. I added croutons and we had our salad that night. It was a change of pace and a hit. Then one Saturday, I was tired of just popping a Trader Joe's pizza or making mac and cheese for Peanut for lunch. So I "proteined" up my improvised salad from a few days before, and a star was born.

Ingredients:
  • 8 oz. bag of spinach salad
  • 2-3 medium chicken breasts
  • 4-5 hard-boiled eggs
  • 5-6 slices of bacon
  • 1 red pepper, quartered
  • 2-3 cobs of corn
  • 1 small can black beans, washed
  • handful of croutons
  • 1-2 tbsp. blue cheese dressing
Procedure:
  1. Hard-boil the eggs while your grill heats up. Marinate the chicken if you want, with just a little vinaigrette. Grill the corn, red pepper, and chicken. 
  2. Microwave the bacon. (Yes, microwave the bacon.) Until crispy. Usually about 5-6 minutes. (I started microwaving it after THIS incident.)
  3. Add your beans. Shave the corn off the cob, dice the peppers and cube the chicken. Add all of them
  4. Put the salad in a large bowl. Slice the eggs into the salad. Crumble the bacon and croutons on top. Drizzle on the dressing. Toss and serve. Takes 45 minutes.
Making it Peanut-friendly
  • Peanut loves salad. And she loves eggs. So this is a hit.
  • You can experiment with salad dressing but we found blue cheese goes best with the egg. 
  • Since I usually make this on the weekend when there is a hungry child involved, so I used canned corn and don't roast roast the peppers to save time. Chicken is also optional.
  • I know I preach healthy meals, and this one involves bacon and blue cheese. So I will say this: I use the good bacon. The real stuff with no added crap in it. All of these ingredients are fresh and real, including the dressing. I will sacrifice low-fat or low-calorie at times when all of the components are good.
Check out these other spring recipes from the #SundaySupper crew:
Breakfast:
Apps, Bread, Salads, Soups and Dressings:
Main and Sides:
Desserts:
Beverages:

18 comments:

  1. Sounds like a new twist on an old favorite of mine, Cobb Salad! You had me at Bacon!! :-)

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  2. I so agree with your low-calorie, low-fat philosophy. The important thing is to use real food. I'm not surprised that this salad got Mom's seal of approval - sounds terrific!

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  3. Well, if it got mom's seal...I must try it!

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  4. Black Beans and Corn are a favorite combo of mine. I can't wait to pair them with blue cheese and chicken on a salad. Yum!

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  5. I love this - and love the kind words your Mom shared. :)

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  6. High praise from your mum and no wonder! I love every element in this fresh, tasty, healthy salad (whenever bacon is on a salad, my brain converts it into a health food. Nothing wrong with that, right?).

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  7. I love everything in this salad. Everything! This will be included on this week's menu! Thanks!

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  8. Now this is a hearty salad that will keep you filled up for a long time.

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  9. Wow what a wonderful compliment from your mom. Bacon in an egg salad sounds pretty perfect to me.

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  10. This sounds like the perfect salad! I absolutely love fresh corn. I'm thinking I could leave off the bacon and chicken and make this for our lunch soon. Although I'm sure the bacon makes it that much better.

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  11. This does sound like the perfect salad! I love garbonzo beans in salads, and have never tried black beans- great idea!

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  12. Great looking salad! I'm going to pin and give it try!

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  13. This salad looks perfect! with everything I love. . esp the hard-boiled eggs, yum!

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  14. Hearty and healthy! My kind of dish!

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  15. Sounds yummy
    My blt salad wasa created the same way

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