Do You Look Forward to a Salad?

I do sometimes get tired of salads. I know they are good for us, and we eat salads often. To really look forward to eating them, though, I have to jazz them up a bit--go beyond the usual greens and ranch routine.

One answer to the "I'm sick of lettuce" lament is bacon. I have always loved bacon. I gave it up all those years I was low fat cooking. Now, we can have bacon on the menu every week. This is the salad that makes me look forward to lunch. I bake my bacon on a rimmed cookie sheet. That way, I don't get splattered, and the bacon curls less. I never liked the chewey underdone parts. I like mine crispy. Even better, with oven baking, I can knock out a whole package at once rather than 5-6 strips at a time in the skillet.

Bacon Salad

1/2 pound bacon
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons vinegar
2 Tablespoons Splenda or equivalent sweetener
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Salad greens
Mushrooms
Cheese (optional)

Fry bacon until crisp. Set aside, but reserve the grease. In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, vinegar, onion powder and sweetener. Slowly stir in 2-3 tablespoons of bacon grease. Chill. Assemble salad greens. Add mushrooms and cheese. Top with salad dressing and crumbled bacon.

Serves 4 555 calories 2 carbs