Wilted Lettuce Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing

    This vintage recipe for wilted lettuce with bacon is the perfect way to eat leaf lettuce from the garden.

       Have you ever had a wilted lettuce salad? It was always one of my favorite salads growing up, but I got out of the habit of making them. When MiMi gave me a bunch of fresh leaf lettuce from the garden I knew I had to dig out the recipe and bring it back.


       There is just something about the slightly sweet and really simple salad that draws me in. Of course the bacon doesn't hurt!

     It always feels a little strange pouring the warm dressing over the salad. Wilting leaves is usually the enemy of salads, not the intent, but whoever came up with this one knew what they were doing!

     I can't help but wonder if the first version of this salad was a mistake though. A hurried cook realized they ran out of oil and used hit bacon grease perhaps? Then after a bite they were hooked?! Who knows? No matter the origin, it's a tasty creation.

    My husband was quite pleased with it as well. He isn't a huge salad fan and normally only eats them loaded with toppings. But this simple salad won him over despite himself.

       I think most recipes have you include the onions raw. I am not a huge fan of raw onions, so I like to cook them until they are just translucent in the bacon grease and just stir them in as part of the dressing. It takes the edge off of them and makes them more enjoyable for me.

     Luckily I just got a bunch more fresh lettuce from our CSA box, so there is more wilted lettuce in our future!

     Some of our other favorite simple side salads using fresh garden produce are caprese quinoa salad and creamy dill cucumber salad. What are your favorite fresh garden sides?

Wilted lettuce salad with warm bacon dressing

Salads, Side dishes,

American

Yield: 8 servingsAuthor: Cooking With Carlee

Wilted Lettuce Salad

This vintage recipe for wilted lettuce with bacon is the perfect way to eat leaf lettuce from the garden.

prep time: 5 minscook time: 15 minstotal time: 20 mins

ingredients:

• 6 slices bacon
• 8 cups leaf lettuce
• 1 small sweet onion
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• Optional: 2 Tablespoons ketchup
• 2-3 hard boiled eggs

instructions

1. Thoroughly wash and dry lettuce, the place in a serving bowl.
2. In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon to cool on paper towels, but leave bacon grease in the pan. 
3. Thinly slice onion and cook in bacon grease over low heat until it begins to soften. 
4. Carefully stir in the vinegar, salt and sugar. Add ketchup if you'd like (we like it both ways!) 
5. Chop bacon and hard boiled eggs and place in serving bowl with lettuce. Pour warm bacon dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately. 

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Copyright: Cooking With Carlee 2018

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