Do you have a favorite salad? You know the one, you see it on a menu and you always order it. For me that salad would be the French treasure Frisee with Lardons. It is always my go-to for lunch and even sometimes dinner when we eat at a French Bistro. I find the salad tends to be on the lighter side, but is still filling. It is protein packed with the poached eggs and crispy lardons which is basically a fancy word for bacon.
Frisée is that funny looking curly lettuce at the market that you probably walk by because you are not sure what can be done with it. It also goes by the name curly endive, and it is part of the chicory family. Other chicories are endives, radicchio as well as escarole, and I have found that you are either a lover or chicories or not. I love the bitterness of chicories though I do not find frisée as bitter as most. I usually have a head of frisée tucked away to make this recipe and to toss into other salads when I want a little more flavor with my lettuce.
Is the Frisée with Lardons truly French? This salad originates from the region Lyon in France and is called Salade Lyonnaise. This salad is usually served as a lunch option at a Bistro. It is kind of the perfect salad with the bitter frisée, salty lardons and creamy egg. The dressing is bright and refreshing made with red vinegar, dijon and a little shallot. You can also use bacon in place of lardons, though I tuck away the later in the freezer for last minute easy salads such as this one.
I fall back on. making Frisée with Lardons often for dinner as it comes to together fairly quickly, and it loaded with protein and flavor.
More Salad Recipes with an Egg
- Caesar Salad
- Potato and Green Bean Salad
- Shaved Asparagus Salad with a Poached Egg
- Egg Benedict Salad
Recipe: Frisee with Lardons
Ingredients:
1 head frisee, cleaned and torn into pieces
6 bacon slices cut into small pieces or 1/3 cup diced lardons
2 tablespoons red vinegar
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons bacon fat, left from browning bacon
salt, to taste
fresh cracked pepper, to taste
How To:
Cook bacon until golden and crispy. Remove from pan and left set on folded paper towels. Set aside
Combine vinegar, mustard, shallot, olive oil, bacon fat, salt and pepper in a jar, shake to combine.
Toss frisee with dressing and bacon bits. Set aside.
Poach eggs using directions above.
To serve put a bed of lettuce on a plate and top with two poached eggs each.
Serve with a nicely warmed baguette.
Serve.
Eat.