On Friday, I made a salad. Well of course I did. I set out to include a salad in my meal plan in the morning, and followed through. Having this here daily (weekday) blog really holds me accountable to following through, see? It's a brilliant tool. Fridays are, as you may know by now, movie and family night here at my house. So I have not been getting to post this until Saturdays. Because to me, family time is important.
So a salad I made. And soup to go with it. That was dinner. The movie was "Oz The Great and Powerful" as my girl has long loved "The Wizard of Oz". But before we dove in to the movie, I made this Avocado & Pancetta Salad. I have long had a love affair with avocado; it is a daily fat in my meal roster. It's one of those foods that lends a hand to help balance your hormones, it is also a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids and so I happily oblige, every day. And bacon, well farmer Iain has supplied us with our bacon, and so I know it is pastured which means the bacon (and accompanying fat, which I'll be saving and using up in the weeks to come!) is a good source of fat-soluble Vitamin D. What's not to love about that? (Vitamin D is essential for bones, immunity, helping keep cancer at bay, thyroid and overall endocrine support, and the list goes on and on…) So bacon instead of pancetta it was, as I knew the source of this bacon in my freezer, and knew it to be pastured.
This on its own could be a salad. Maybe.
So Jamie's recipe is very simple: lay down some greens. Top with crispy bits of cooked pancetta/bacon. Add some creamy avocado. Toast up some pine nuts (in my case, I did pistachios). Drizzle some olive oil and balsamic, some S&P and Bob's your uncle. Dinner is ready.
Unless you're in my kitchen. And then I can't follow the recipe. Inspired by Jamie's mix, I also added some slivered dried apricots because I thought it would balance out the salty from the bacon; and I didn't pre-mix my dressing, I just drizzled it on top of my salad. And then, Bob was my uncle. I loved the mix of salty and tangy from the balsamic with the sweet from the apricots, and the crunch from the bacon and creamy from avocado. Just a simple tomato soup on the side was sufficient.
Oh, and the rhubarb crisp afterwards. But that will be another month's subject of recipes… Have a good weekend everyone! And thanks to those who have been sending word and inspiration of their salad escapades at home. It brings me joy, you have no idea!
Avocado & Bacon Salad, with apricots and balsamic