It actually hit 80 degrees here in Portland last week. Although it is back to cooler and rainier days this week it totally put me in the mood for a good salad for dinner. I love today’s salad recipe because it takes an all time favorite sandwich combo and turns it into a salad. Makes it a little more diet friendly and not so carb heavy! Since my husband is eating gluten free I can just leave the croutons out of his. I took this to our empty nester family home evening group and it was a hit. Bringing home an empty bowl is always a good sign.
The best part of this salad though is the bacon. It is not your ordinary bacon! I used some sugar and spice to make the bacon the star of the salad. I baked the bacon after coating it with a layer of brown sugar and paprika mixed together.
I baked it at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until it was crisp and caramelized.
I pretty much had to exercise amazing self control not to eat all of the bacon before putting it in the salad. Basically candy bacon!!
I cut it up along with all the other ingredients and then made the dressing which is a combo of mayo, maple syrup, mustard and lemon juice.
All you have to do is mix together your bacon, lettuce and tomato along with some red onion and croutons and you’ve got a yummy BLT salad!
All that is left to do is drizzle it with the creamy salad dressing!
Toss and it is ready to serve. Just remember it’s no fair picking out all the yummy bacon! Save some for everyone else.
For some other yummy salads try these:
Lemon Fruit Spinach Salad – Chicken Napa Salad – House Salad with Lemon Dressing
- 1 head of romaine lettuce chopped (about 6 cups)
- 1/3 C red onion chopped
- 2 to matoes chopped
- 2 C croutons
- 6 slices bacon
- 1/4 C brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 C mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tsp whole grain mustard
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix together brown sugar, paprika and pepper in a bowl.
- Place bacon on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Coat bacon on both sides with brown sugar mixture.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until bacon is caramelized and crisp. About 20 minutes
- Allow to cool and then cut into bite size pieces.
- Combine lettuce, onions, tomatoes in a bowl.
- Add in bacon.
- Mix together mayo, maple syrup, mustard and lemon juice.
- Add desired amount of dressing to salad and toss to coat.
- Top with croutons
Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine.
Enjoy!
Leigh Anne
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This looks great! Especially that bacon. YUM!
Thanks Rebecca – the bacon is amazing!!
Making this tonight!! THANK YOU!!
Let me know how you like it Alicia!
I made this last night and it was delicious! Even my picky husband who thinks salad should only be a side dish, enjoyed it! The candied bacon and homemade dressing are what make it special. Thanks again for the inspiration. Keep these awesome recipes coming, Leigh Anne!
Sounds great!
I’ll probably add avocado too or a little bleu cheese. Why stop at bacon! 🙂
Carmelized bacon, yum!! Pinning!
Nice salad, Leigh Anne. Thanks so much.
Just made this for lunch,added in some avocado . The dressing was perfect! Thanks for sharing!
Love the idea of adding avocado – so glad you enjoyed it!
I have prepped everything tonight for this salad and can’t wait to combine it all in the morning!! I am sure this is going to be a hit at our Canada Day BBQ tomorrow!!
Had a bite of the bacon….mmmmm heaven!!
Thanks 🙂
Happy Canada Day! I was up in Victoria this last weekend – so beautiful.
This salad! GAH!! It’s one of my new favorites! The first time making it, I almost used honey instead of maple syrup (not it’s biggest fan) but I’m glad I didn’t. The whole salad as is, is a taste sensation!! Thank you!!
Kate – Love that you loved it!! Now you’ve got me craving it!
Loved this recipe! I’ve made it twice now, and I’ve found that I can get away without coating the bacon with the brown sugar mixture on both sides because the mixture melts and somehow gets on the other side anyway. The lazy man’s version! If you like a little heat, I used a smoky hot paprika from Spain, and it was outrageously delicious. Going to try it with avocado today. Thanks so much for posting this. It’s a new family favorite that even my meat-loving husband gets excited about.
Liv, I love smoked paprika and will definitely try it the next time I make the salad – which I need to do soon! So glad you enjoyed it!!