Green Beans and Bacon Salad

Easy non-heart smart but very tasty recipe.

Blanche green beans - I like to start them in cold water and when it just gets to the boil they are done and should be taken out and placed in cold water to stop cooking, but you can do it the usual way, drop them into boiling water and monitor them.

Take bacon - a fair bit of bacon, and cut it into liberally sized lardons - don't chop it up into little bits, but decent sized stick shapes. Fry the bacon until crisping.

Scoop the bacon over the beans and then add as much of the bacon fat as is needed to dress the salad and toss. Serve immediately. See what I mean about not being heart smart? And you don't need to throw all the bacon fat in, just enough to coat the beans, and you HAVE to eat right away - who wants congealed dressing?

You probably won't need any added salt (with most bacon) but coarsely ground pepper can enhance the flavours. You can also add acidity (vinegar, lemon juice etc.) but that changes it into a more conventional salad, though some would probably prefer that. You can also add all sorts of fripperies like nuts, cheese, shallots etc. but that gets further away from the basic quick concept.

Still crisp beans (haricots vert are best of you can find them) just crisp bacon and warm bacon fat dressing.

You can also add all sorts of fripperies like nuts, cheese, shallots etc. but that gets further away from the basic quick concept.

Nah, wouldn't want to bumfuzzle the eaters with all those fripperies! Personally, I'd add the shallots (sautéed in bacon grease, of course) with the beans and bacon...yum!

That will likely be the method of choice for my next green bean dish.

[Jenise]

One of my favorite meals growing up, in the days when my mother was too sick to cook much anymore, was a frozen dish by Birds Eye that featured green beans and spaetzle in a heavily baconned butter sauce. OH MY, so good! Bacon and green beans absolutely belong together, IMO.

But a caution--starting green beans in cold water vs. dropping them into boiling water will not yield the same result. From cold water, the beans don't develop as much color, and some varieties of green beans will get tougher.

I'll have to experiment, Jenise - try some from cold and others right into boiling water and see which turn out crisper or nicer!

Green doesn't necessarily matter as much - if I use enough bacon my eyes are often closed as I eat it......