It was one of those nights where nothing had been planned for dinner and we’re both scratching our heads at 9 p.m. wondering what we’re going to eat (and which one of us was going to pull kitchen duty). I always keep some hard boiled eggs in the fridge and if there isn’t bacon in our fridge, there’s always bacon in our freezer. Thankfully, because bacon is already cut into slices, it takes no time at all to thaw out. So, here you have it– a clean out the fridge salad, that really needs no recipe, so follow the quantities as loosely or as stringently as you’d like…you can do no wrong.

Ingredients

For the Salad

• 2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped small
• 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 7 slices bacon, crumbled
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 3 green onions, choppped

For the Dressing

• 1/3 c bacon drippings
• 2 T Dijon mustard
• 1 T honey
• s&p

Method

First and foremost, get the bacon sizzlin’ in a saute pan. I usually use a sheet/cookie tray and pop the bacon in the oven–and that’s fine too, but for this recipe, I’m using the bacon dripping for the base of the dressing, so I figured it was easier to pour the drippings from a saute pan rather than from a cookie sheet. Once the bacon is crisped to your liking, remove it and let is drain on a paper towel lined plate. Turn the heat off the pan and let the bacon drippings cool.

While the bacon is doing its thing, go ahead and prep your lettuce and veggies, and toss them into your serving dish.

For the Dressing

Using a jar with a screw top lid (think jam, pickles, etc.) combine all the ingredients and shake the living day lights out of the jar. This is the least messy, most efficient way to emulsify the ingredients. A note about the dressing: because bacon fat is mostly saturated, it will solidify at room temp and in the fridge. It’s best to drizzle the dressing only on the portion of salad you’re eating…not on the whole thing, unless you plan to eat it all in one sitting.

Store the dressing in the fridge and reheat it in the microwave for a few seconds to get it nice and fluid again.