Salade Lyonnaise

 

Salade Lyonnaise

A trip to France wouldn’t be complete without savoring the iconic Salade Lyonnaise. Typically enjoyed with lunch or dinner, this hearty salad features ingredients like bacon, poached eggs, and croutons on a bed of frisée lettuce. In many bouchons (traditional eateries), it’s often paired with comforting dishes such as Coq au vin. 

Ingredients

2 heads frisée lettuce or, if in season, 2 bunches of dandelion leaves

1/4-pound bacon (unsmoked is traditional, but I like a slight tang of smoke)

Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

4 slices pain de Campagne or rustic sourdough bread

2 cloves garlic, peeled

4 eggs, at room temperature

Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

4 tablespoons of tasting oil, such as olive or canola

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Wash, sort, and dry the lettuce. If using dandelion leaves, remove the hard stems and tear the leaves into bite-size pieces.

Cut the bacon into lardons, or 1/4-inch-thick matchsticks.

Prepare the vinaigrette (see below).

Lightly toast the bread and rub one side with a clove of garlic. Cut the bread into 1/2-inch cubes for croutons.

Prepare the coddled eggs: bring a large pot of water to a boil, then lower the eggs gently into the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes, adding 30 seconds if your eggs are jumbo. Drain them immediately and run cold water into the pan to stop the cooking and cool the eggs so you can handle them. Gently crack and peel the eggs, taking care not to tear the white. The yolk should still be runny. Rinse the peeled eggs to wash away any bits of shell.

In a frying pan over medium-high heat, cook the lardons until they start to crisp and most of their fat has rendered. Remove them from the pan. With the flat side of a chef’s knife, lightly crush the remaining clove of garlic. Add it to the remaining bacon fat in the pan with the bread, turning the cubes so that they are lightly toasted on all sides.

In a large bowl, toss the lettuce with the vinaigrette. Scatter the croutons and bacon over the salad. Arrange the eggs on top and served family style.

Vinaigrette

In a small, lidded jar, combine the vinegar, mustard, and oil; cover and shake to combine. Season to taste (but not too much, given the saltiness of the salad’s other ingredients). Taste with a piece of lettuce and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

 

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Author of 5 books and a Graduate with an Associate of Arts from Phoenix University in Business Management, then a degree. Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Phoenix University, then on to Walden University for her master’s in criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology. Her work portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen and ink, Gouche, and pastels. As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 7 blogs that range from art to life coaching, to food, to writing, Gardening, and opinion or history pieces each week. 

French Fare, Potpourri of Frugality. Kilbride