377. DANDELION GREENS with BACON

makes 4 servings


2 tablespoons olive oil
about ½ lb. best slab bacon you can find, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
4 cups torn dandelion or other bitter greens, such as arugula, cress, frisée (trimmed, washed, and dried)
about ¼ cup top-quality red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the olive oil in a skillet and turn the heat to medium. Add the bacon and cook slowly until it is crisp all over, 10 minutes or more. Add the shallot and cook a minute or two longer, until the shallot softens. Keep the bacon warm in the skillet.

Heat a salad bowl by filling it with hot water and letting it sit for a minute. Dry it and toss in the greens. Add the vinegar and mustard to the skillet, and bring just to a boil, stirring. Pour the liquid and the bacon over the greens, season to taste (it shouldn’t need much salt), and serve immediately.


courtesy of: How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, by Mark Bittman. New York: MacMillan, 1998. pp. 96-97.