There's Bacon In It: A Salad Recipe That Will Make You Exclaim, "SALAD!"; Not Cry, "Ugh, Salad?!"

May 01, 2019by Peter Spina

Beautiful weather is on its way; and is there anything more satisfying than eating a crunchy salad in the sun?! Here’s one that is delicious and will pair nicely with any BBQ meal you have this summer!

I ate this salad this weekend and made a few changes to the original recipe I found online. I love light dressings that allow the sweetness of the apples and cabbage to shine through, so I made a simpler one than what was suggested. Ingredients with a ¹ are from the original, and a ² is my suggestion.

Here are the Ingredients you will need:

8 ounces sliced bacon (not thick-cut, about 9 slices), cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar ¹
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey ¹
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard ¹
Juice of ½ lemon²
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 small head green cabbage (approx 2 pounds or 10 cups) shredded
10 brussel sprouts, shredded
1 sweet, red apple (ex. Pink Lady or Royal Gala)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley leaves
Freshly ground black pepper

And here’s how to put them together:

Fry the bacon until it is crisp and browned. Transfer it onto paper towel-lined plate to get rid of excess fat. Save ¼ cup of bacon fat.
Original recipe suggests this for the dressing: Place vinegar ¹, oil, honey¹, mustard¹, and salt in a large salad bowl and whisk to combine. Add in green onions. Add reserved bacon fat and whisk into the dressing
My suggested alternative: Place oil, and lemon juice² in large salad bowl. Whisk to combine. Add in green onions.
Place the shredded cabbage in the salad bowl with dressing. And toss to combine.
Core and cut the apple into ½ inch pieces (no need to peel). Add apple, bacon and parsley to the cabbage and dressing. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
Let sit for a while - 15 minutes or so - to let the flavors blend real nice together... Mmm, yeah. THEN EAT IT!