Salade Lyonnaise

I am so lucky! I buy my eggs locally from my principal’s assistant’s mother who raises chickens just a few miles from our house, and they are phenomenal! I’ve had people who taste my challah and ask if I’ve used extra eggs because the color is so rich. Every time I get a carton, I can’t wait to see the beautiful colors of the shells from the various breeds she raises.

In our CSA farm share from Woven Roots Farm, one of our recent items was a beautiful head of frisée, which meant we would definitely have Salade Lyonnaise with our dinner. I love how the egg yolk enriches the dressed greens, and how the salty lardons (chunks of bacon) and crunchy croutons complement the flavors.

Poaching the eggs can be the tricky part. If you don’t feel confident, you could soft boil the eggs (although they can be difficult to peel) or even make fried eggs sunny side up. It won’t be quite the same, but as long as you get some of the runny yolk mixed in with the salad, it’ll be great!

This salad can easily be vegetarian if you omit the lardons. The recipe below is much more a series of guidelines than precise instructions.

Salade Lyonnaise

Serves 2

Lardons & Croutons:

Cook ¼-½  cup of bacon chunks in a sauté pan. Sometimes we get ends of slab bacon with little fat and I have to add a bit of olive oil. You can certainly cut up two slices of bacon if you don’t have a larger piece to cut up. Once the lardons are partially cooked, add about ½ cup of croutons cut from old bread. (I always cut the ends of loaves for croutons or bread crumbs and keep them in bags in the freezer.) Continue to cook until the croutons become toasted. Set aside.

Frisée & Dressing:

Tear the amount of frisée you want for both servings and place into a bowl. Dress the greens with a Dijon vinaigrette and toss to coat well. My favorite is the Maple Dijon Vinaigrette from The Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook, and the recipe for the dressing can be found here. However, I’ve figured out a slightly easier way to make it. I use the cup that came with my immersion blender and add the two oils directly into it. Then I add the remaining ingredients and use the immersion blender to emulsify. That’s it. It makes more than I use at one meal, so I pour the dressing into a plastic squeeze bottle and keep it in the refrigerator.

At this point, I like to plate the dressed greens and sprinkle the lardons and croutons on top before I poach the eggs.

Poached Eggs:

Fill a lidded, nonstick sauté pan about ¾ full with water, add 2 teaspoons white vinegar, and bring to a boil. (You can use a regular pan, but sometimes a bit of the egg can sink and touch the bottom, and it can be more difficult to dislodge, so I prefer to use a nonstick pan.) Meanwhile crack each egg into a small dish. When the water is boiling, gently slide one egg, then the other, into the water on opposite sides of the pan. Turn off the heat and cover. (It’s fine if some of the whites do not stay attached. Allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for 3 minutes, 4 if you prefer your yolk less runny. Gently and carefully lift the eggs out of the water one at a time with a slotted spoon or skimmer. (I have a very shallow skimmer-strainer that I like to use.) Use paper towel to absorb any surface water, and gently place on top of the salad.

Be sure to allow the yolk to drip out and enrich the dressing on the frisée.