I’ve been looking for something different to make, and I stumbled across this recipe on the Food Network website. I figured I could slide it by the husband since it had bacon in it, and the dressing intrigued me. I was a bit concerned because there weren’t that many reviews, but the few that are on there are favorable.
So I came home from work tonight [TONIGHT! You are getting same day posting here, people!] with a mission to make this dish, along with some chicken breast that would of course be cooked in the leftover bacon drippings. As if you had to ask! I’m actually somewhat insulted that would even come into question.
The first step is to cook the bacon, and I used six thick slices; the recipe only calls for four, but I knew that the husband would eat at least one slice while waiting for everything to be ready and I may have been tempted to as well [I resisted, though!]. Then once the bacon was nice and crisp, I reserved 2 tablespoons of the fat for the dressing, and let the rest stay in the pan for the chicken breast. The breasts were pounded [hee] somewhat thin, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic, and then just cooked in the pan until they had a nice sear on them and were fully cooked.
For the salad, I sliced a McIntosh apple and then put it in a big bowl along with a 10 oz bag of pre-washed baby spinach leaves from the grocery store. Then I diced the bacon and added that in there as well. The prep on this was really easy, and honestly, even without the dressing the salad looked pretty tasty.
With the reserved bacon fat, I added 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard, and 1 teaspoon of sugar, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. That came to a boil, and then everything was pretty much ready. Add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat everything evenly.
See? It looks great. The taste, however, was not quite as good. It was decent – I think the husband enjoyed it more than I did. I felt like there was too much mustard; next time I think I’d do half the amount of mustard and maybe some white wine, or something else? It needed more flavor, which I know sounds weird considering the ingredients. Part of me thinks maybe some garlic [because what isn't better with garlic?] or something to brighten the flavor. I don’t know! I’ll have to mess around with it next time.
But before we get to the goods, let’s have a Food Shenanigans moment of cooking safety. You see this plate? This is what happens when you put a styrofoam plate on a still hot burner. You probably shouldn’t do that. And if you do unthinkingly follow my poor example, you might want to hide it in the trash better than I did, so that maybe your husband [or wife] won’t find it. Of course, the burnt bits of styrofoam on the stove probably would have given me away eventually.
Also, another indicator that the dinner came out really well? It’s husband approved! [He's eating noodles that I made for him along with everything else that are not posted because they're from a boxed mix.] Aww, isn’t he precious?
