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More Than Salad
First, let me start by saying that this is not a low-fat recipe. Okay, that’s out of the way.
The good news? Some recipes are worth all the hours you’re gonna have to spend in the gym trying to burn off the calories you consumed in only one sitting. This is one of them.
It’s got bacon, and avocado. Which, I gather, doesn’t come as a total surprise to you. But the thing that really makes this salad pop are the sun-dried tomato & garlic croutons.
The dressing I made is a new favorite. Nothing extravagant, fancy, or even unique. It’s an easy creamy garlic dressing that is surprisingly light in flavor because of the twist I gave it. Not to mention the loads of Parmesan that went into it.
It’s safe to say this is now my new favorite salad. Give it a try, it might end up being yours as well.
Ingredients:
salad:
butter lettuce
lollo rosso (or other curly lettuce)
3oz bacon
1/2 red onion
1 avocado
12 cherry tomatoes
1 ball mozzarella
croutons:
1 ciabatta (preferable stale)
2 garlic cloves
3 sun-dried tomatoes (on oil)
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tbsp oil
dressing:
4 tbsp Hellmann’s
2 tbsp sour cream
1/2 garlic clove
freshly cracked black pepper
1 tbsp rice vinegar
fresh chives
Parmesan
Directions:
* Photographic intense posting ahead. Just because I felt like it.
I used my oven to cook the bacon. Drape them on a grill rack to get that pretty wave. We’ll need the drippings as well.
I put the bacon in a preheated oven (or use my BGE) at 375ºF (175ºC) for 20 minutes. Until nice and crispy.
In your food processor you combine the oil, grated garlic, cayenne, sun-dried tomatoes, black pepper, basil and salt.
You know this will be a flavor-bomb, right?
Pulse until you have a flavored oil with an almost pesto rosso like appearance.
Cube the ciabatta. I prefer my croutons a bit bigger.
Add the flavored oil and just dig your hands in there.
I love working with my hands. Don’t stop until every bread cube has sucked up some of the oil.
The bacon should be done by now.
Leaving you with all this bacon fat. Terrible, isn’t it?
See where I’m going with this?
Add the croutons and mix them up until all the fat has been sucked into the bread.
Like your croutons saltier? Sprinkle a little kosher salt on top of them before baking. Bake the croutons at 350ºF (175ºC) for 20 to 25 minutes. Until they’re all crunchy and golden-brown.
In a bowl you mix the Hellmann’s (It must be Hellmann’s, sorry!) with the sour cream.
Grate the garlic in there. Use the whole clove if you like your dressing heavy on garlic.
Clearly this is not a good recipe for those of you going out on a first date.
Season it with freshly cracked black pepper. No salt. The mayo is salty and we’ll add Parmesan and bacon to the salad.
Rice vinegar is the secret ingredient here. I absolutely love what this does to the dressing.
Same goes for the heart-shaped measuring spoons, I adore them. Thanks a million, Elizabeth!.
Add 1/4 tsp onion powder.
Mix it all up.
Grate in as much Parmesan as you like, and don’t be shy now!
Finely mince a few chives and stir them in.
The croutons should be ready by now.
My cherry tomatoes were huge, so I cut each one in four. I thinly sliced the red onion and cubed the avocado.
Wash and dry your lettuce of choice.
I sliced the butter lettuce in coarse piece.
And added the Lollo Rosso to it.
I would be perfectly happy just grabbing a fistful of lettuce and dipping it into the dressing. But I realize not everyone is such a glutton for gluttonous foods.
So in stead I added 1 1/2 tbsp sauce to the lettuce. I don’t want to drown it, just coat it.
>
Work the dressing into the salad with your hands.
You can distribute it more evenly when you use your hands for this.
Rip the mozzarella into chunks and add the remaining ingredients to the salad.
Finish the salad with the crispy bacon and croutons. Serve the rest of the dressing on the side.
Like the title says: this is much more than a salad. This is a hearty meal on its own.
| More Than Salad | |
| Ingredients |
butter lettuce lollo rosso (or other curly lettuce) 3 oz bacon lollo rosso 1/2 red onion 1 avocado 12 cherry tomatoes 1 ball mozzarella croutons: 1 ciabatta (preferable stale) 2 garlic cloves 3 sun-dried tomatoes (on oil) 1/2 tsp salt 2/3 tsp dried basil 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper 4 tbsp oil dressing: 4 tbsp Hellmann’s 2 tbsp sour cream 1/2 garlic clove freshly cracked black pepper 1 tbsp rice vinegar fresh chives Parmesan |
| Directions |
In your food processor you combine the oil, grated garlic, cayenne, sun-dried tomatoes, black pepper, basil and salt. Pulse until you have a pesto type of consistency. Cube the ciabatta and flavor it with the sun-dried tomatoes and oil. Keep the bacon aside and add the croutons to the tray with the bacon fat. Mix it up and bake the croutons at 350ºF (175ºC) for 20 to 25 minutes. Mix the Hellmann’s with the sour cream, and grate the garlic in there. Season with pepper, onion powder, rice vinegar and grated Parmesan. Chop the chives and stir them in. Wash and dry your lettuce and cut chop it in coarse pieces. Put it in a bowl, add 1 1/2 tbsp of the dressing and work it into the lettuce with your hands. Rip the mozzarella into chunks. Thinly slice the onion. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and cube the avocado. Add everything to the lettuce. Finish the salad with the bacon and croutons and serve the rest of the dressing on the side. |
| Meal type: | lunch, main course or side dish |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Copyright: | © kayotickitchen.com |
22 Comments »
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Awesome salad…love everything that goes into it !!
What a wonderful salad, and what a superb way of posting this recipe. I love to have it visualized. You made my day! Cheers!
Oh god, if I didn’t love you already, I would fall in love with you right now ;) THIS IS SO MY KIND OF SALAD! Woman it has BACON! <3 I love me some bacon!
x Clauw.
Love the heart shape measuring spoon ;). And as usual fab pics…..
It’s adorable. The tbsp says “A Heap of Love“. Every spoon has the cutest name.
Today it is 100 degrees f. in the shade here in Nashville, Tennessee! So this pretty and crispy looking salad is what I am planning for dinner tonight. I have a few vegs from my backyard garden so I will toss them in. There is a saying here in the South, “everything is better with bacon” and this salad is a perfect example. Thanks.
Ziet er weer heerlijk uit zeg.
mmmm. I don’t really care for avocado but everything else in this salad sounds delicious. Especially those croutons! I’ve sadly never had homemade croutons, this will have to change!
perfect salad! just fantastic! I adore that dressing and can’t wait to make this! great job!
-Leila
Hi Kay!
Sent this recipe to my husband yesterday while he was doing errands with our 3 yr old. He came home with all the ingredients we didn’t have! He made it today and it turned out awesome! The homemade croutons alone are amazing!!! I have been eating them with the sauce. This is a fantastic salad and makes you very full. He liked your site too! Thanks again!
Delia
Bay Area, CA
You’re just as bad as I am. I found myself dipping croutons in the dressing, too :)
I made the dressing yesterday and put it on a quick salad of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, bacon, red onion and bell pepper. I had no time for the croutons, and had no mozzarella or avocado on hand, but boy was it tasty. I really liked the dressing! Next time I will try to add the croutons as well, they look like I could eat an entire bowl of them as I would eat chips.
No croutons? I am so disappointed in you!
:)
I know… :(
In my defense though, I was cooking for four hungry (hence no time) male friends at their house. No oven worthy of the name ‘oven’ was present in their kitchen. Therefore, no croutons were either.
Next time, I’ll make a double batch of croutons to make up for it. And to have something to snack on at night :D
Just kidding, silly!
I always dip a few croutons in the dressing as well. It’s sinfully good.
Wat doe je me aan? Heerlijk!!!!!
I’m hoping to make this sometime during the week! I just have one question – about how many servings does this make? I can normally get a feel for how much a recipe will make, but I’m at a complete loss here!
Thanks!
My recipes are also printable (see the print icon below each recipe). The print version states the amount of servings!
Thanks Kay! I’ve never actually used the print button so I didn’t know that the serving information was included. Nifty! I’ll be making this for dinner tonight :)
Yum Yum Yum! :)
Can the dressing and croutons be made a day ahead? what do you recommend? I am making this for a party
My mouth was watering as I read this! Will be doing this one.