French Dandelion Salad with Bacon (Salade de Pissenlits)

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5 from 1 vote

A classic fresh dandelion salad with warm bacon dressing.

Prep Time5

Cook Time5

Total Time10

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Salad

Cuisine: American, French

Keyword: dandelion salad recipe, red dandelion recipe

Servings: servings

Calories: 202kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 2

Equipment

1 Medium mixing bowl
1 Tongs
1 10 inch saute pan
1 Non-stick pan for cooking eggs such as carbon steel, teflon or cast iron

Ingredients

2 oz fresh dandelion greens *see note roughly 2 loosely packed cups harvested before the flowers form
3 oz bacon (2 slices) cut into 1 inch slices
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 small clove of garlic minced (optional)
2 large eggs or hard boiled eggs optional
Shavings of fresh high quality parmesan cheese such as Parmigiano Reggiano
Fresh ground black pepper
½ teaspoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon fresh cut chives
A few sliced leaves of fresh mint, tarragon or basil (optional)
1 Dandlelion flower to garnish (optional)

Instructions

Salad

Wash and clean the dandelion greens then wrap them in a clean towel or spin them dry. Make sure the greens are perfectly dry so they don’t dilute the dressing.
Cut the greens into 1-2 inch pieces. If using cultivated dandelions, remove most of the stem so you have mostly the leafy upper portion.
In a stainless steel saute pan or cast iron skillet, heat the bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp and the fat has rendered out.
Drain off most of the fat, leaving about 2-3 teaspoons in the pan.
Remove the pan from the heat, and, while it’s still very hot, add the vinegar and stir quickly with a wooden spoon to remove the browned bits.
Immediately pour the hot bacon-vinegar mixture onto the dandelion leaves and mix well, adding the maple syrup and herbs.
Taste the salad and adjust the seasoning for salt, pepper and acid. A dash of fresh squeezed lemon juice (½ tsp) can be nice at the end.

Eggs

Meanwhile, use the bacon fat to fry two large eggs sunny side, over easy, or however you like. For the perfect sunny side egg, drain the eggs briefly in a small strainer to remove excess albumen/egg white before cooking.

Plating

Divide the greens between two salad plates. Place the eggs on top. Garnish with chives, curls of parmesan cheese, fresh cracked pepper and dandelion flower petals and serve.

Video

Notes

This kind of salad is not specific to French cuisine. Appalachian kilt salad or killed salad is similar, but uses garden lettuces. Spinach works fine too. If dandelions are strong for your taste, use a mix of different greens you like.

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