January 2018 | The Honest Spoon

OK,  let's be real for a second. I know blogs are supposed to be witty and engaging. But we're talking about a salad here. I'm not going to drag this out. I'm going to give you a handful of ingredients so you can get on with your life. 

Side note, "Lardon" is  French.  Lardons are a strip or cube of pork fat. They are not smoked, rather cured in salt. Here, I'm using bacon. Let's be real- I don't have time to drive all over the ends of the earth (aka: Portland, OR) looking for Lardon. I am happy to use applewood smoked bacon- thick cut. 'Cause I'm fancy like that. As the heading states, this is "my" version. It's simple, It's delicious. It's not "Lardon". I know. So let's be cool and commence with the salad making,

TIPS:

1. Add you dressing and toss the salad before you add the poached eggs.

2. Wishing you could pack this up for a weekday lunch,? You are in luck! Since you can't really poach your eggs in the AM, top your salad, and eat it later I have a solution! Poach your eggs in the microwave with this handy little guy right here.  It's inexpensive and awesome. Keep one at home and one at work. I always add a couple drops of water to the poacher before adding the eggs. This helps them steam and prevents the rubbery texture you can get with cooking eggs in the microwave.  In about 45 seconds, eggs will poach to soft/ medium . So FAST!  To get your eggs to work safely, put them in a snapware type container (add a couple napkins so they don't crack against each other). East Breezy and SO GOOD. 

MY SIMPLE LARDON SALAD

| makes one salad|

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 Cups of baby arugula mixed greens  (like Trader Joe's "SORRENTO")
• 2 poached eggs
• bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled. about 2 tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon pine nuts (or any nut of choice. candied walnuts could be great too!)
• 1 tablespoon goat cheese (you can also use feta or blue cheese crumbles)
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

SALAD DRESSING:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped shallot (about 1/4 of a whole shallot)
• 1/4 teaspoon chopped chives (not necessary, but if use it if you have it!)

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METHOD:

1. Make your dressing first. It helps give the flavors time to meld together a bit. 

2. Place your salad mix into a shallow bowl.

3. Add dressing to the salad, and toss in the bowl. THEN, add bacon, pine nuts, and goat cheese. This will help ensure all the delicious bits don't end up on the bottom of the bowl. 

4. Poach your eggs. Make sure to drain them well on a paper towel, You don't want that warm water all over your salad. 

5. Placed your poached eggs on your salad and enjoy!

Serve alone or with a couple slices of toasted rustic bread to soak up some of that delicious yolk!

*If you are on a Paleo or Whole 30 diet, you can replace the goat cheese with avocado or a fresh fruit like peaches, nectarines, or strawberries. Remember to use Paleo or Whole 30 friendly bacon. Yum!