by Meredith Shanley
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1/2
large loaf ciabatta bread, cubed
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3
small to medium sized tomatoes, largely diced
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3 ounces
slab bacon, cut into cubes
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3 handfuls
arugula, roughly chopped
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1/2
lemon, juiced
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zest of 1/4 lemon
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1 teaspoon
Dijon mustard
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1 teaspoon
leftover bacon drippings
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3 tablespoons
extra virgin olive oil
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2 teaspoons
mayonnaise
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Salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
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Preheat oven to 350.
Ask the hotline about this step!In a single layer on a cookie sheet, place cubed bread. Toast in oven until golden and dried through completely.
Ask the hotline about this step!In a medium sized saute pan, cook bacon until slightly crispy and nicely browned. Remove to paper towels, reserve 1 tsp drippings.
Ask the hotline about this step!Combine the dijon, lemon juice, zest, salt and pepper to taste.
Ask the hotline about this step!Whisk together bacon drippings and olive oil, then add in a slow stream to Dijon mixture.
Ask the hotline about this step!Once dressing is emulsified, whisk in mayonnaise until fully incorporated and slightly creamy.
Ask the hotline about this step!Toss tomatoes, bacon, bread, salt and fresh cracked black pepper with dressing.
Ask the hotline about this step!Just before serving, toss in arugula. Check for seasoning, serve.
Ask the hotline about this step!Ray, wonderful idea to toast the bread slightly!
Will you be my woman? As a gay man, I don't often say this. This salad is a total home run. The dressing is lemony and creamy and is the perfect complement to the arugula and bacon. My only suggestion is to rip the bread into small chunks and toss it with a little olive oil and garlic and toast is lightly...so that it still is a bit chewy. Wow!
Loved this!! My bread cubes were a little too big, will make them smaller next time. Also, I let this one sit too long in the dressing before serving and my big cubes of bread got a little too soggy. But it didnt really matter - the dressing and bacon were still delicious!
Incredible. Rich, decadent, yet light and refreshing.
Just great! Made this for close friends, last night. We get a wonderful bacon from a smokehouse in NH, so just used large pieces of their sliced bacon. Big hit!
This was so good. I think this will go into heavy rotation at our place come next summer :)
A superb salad: fun to prepare, well balanced, colorful, and exceptionally tasty! Yum!
Leslie
Dan is the founder of Kitchen Options
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We sliced the ciabatta into large cubes -- probably just more than 1" square.
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Meredith Shanley calls for dry toasting, and after just a few minutes in the oven, the bread was just that: dry and toasted.
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Although the recipe called for slab bacon, we used very thick cut, and it worked well.
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The bacon cooked super quickly. Be sure to reserve the fat for the dressing!
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We diced the tomatoes to about the same size as the bread.
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The dressing uses bacon fat, olive oil, and mayonnaise, and the three fats result in a delicate, creamy dressing.
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We added the dressing and seasoned the salad before adding the arugula.
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The arugula added a nice peppery flavor to the salad.
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Handsome. The end.
Tasted the dressing when I made it and thought I made a mistake cause it was so tangy. But balanced so well when i tried it with the arugula! Awesome recipe!! Thanks!