Breakfast Salad

We have a new restaurant in town, and I’m already in love with one of their salads.  At American Harvest Eatery, they try to source most of their products locally, and their theme is kind  of an upscale comfort food thing, without being stuffy.  With radishes and mixed greens being in season, and us having harvested quite a bit of each from our garden, I decided to try my hand at re-creating this salad that includes radishes, bacon, croutons, greens, a hot sauce vinaigrette, and then finished with a sunny side up egg.

My take on American Harvest's Breakfast Salad

Makes 4 small-ish salads

• 4 handfuls of mixed greens (maybe 6 cups ish?)
• 6 slices bacon, cut up
• bread, cut up into crouton-sized pieces -about 2 cups worth (Ideally day old bread that is not super soft)
• 12-15 radishes, cut in half long-ways
• green onions, sliced thin
• 4 eggs
• Hot Sauce Vinaigrette, recipe below

Cook bacon in pan on stove over medium heat, until bacon is cooked through and browned.  Drain off grease (throw grease out or save for some other use.)

Toss bread with about 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake on sheet pan in single layer in 350 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes, shaking pan once to move around croutons, until brown and crisp.  Set aside to cool after they come out of oven

Toss radishes with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven in single layer on sheet pan for about  8-10 minutes, shaking pan once during cooking.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Just before cooking eggs, toss greens with bacon, green onions, croutons, radishes, and vinaigrette and arrange on plates.

To cook eggs, heat a non-stick pan over medium to medium high heat. I just do 2 eggs at a time.  Coat pan with some fat (reserved bacon grease from earlier if you so choose – or just spray it with some Pam cooking spray – whateves).  Once pan is thoroughly heated, gently crack egg into pan.  The idea here is to keep the egg in a somewhat nice oval so the white does not spread all over the pan and they keep a consistant size so they cook evenly and look pretty.  Season with salt and pepper and let cook, turning heat down to just a little under medium if need be.

To get egg white cooked without over-cooking the yolk, add about 1-2 teaspoons of water per egg to the pan after egg has cooked for about 2 minutes and then cover with a lid for about 2 minutes.  Remove lid and let cook about another 30 seconds to one minute, and egg should be good to go at this point and can be placed on top of salad.

Radishes from our garden.

Hot Sauce Vinaigrette

• 1 tablespoon sriacha
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• about1/3 cup vegetable oil

Whisk sriacha, mustard, vinegar, and honey together in a bowl.  Slowly whisk in vegetable oil until mixture is emulsified. (I use veggie oil here instead of olive oil because I feel like the olive flavor is too pungent for this.)  Season with salt and pepper.

 

Strawberry and Goat Cheese Spinach Salad

My mother recently took a trip to Louisiana – New Orleans and Baton Rouge – to see family.  Her other reason for this trip was to get strawberries at the Louisiana Strawberry Festival.  She feels like Louisiana spring strawberries are some of the best things on earth.  And she is kinda right.  She was also nice enough to bring me a few pints.

Seared Scallops with Pickled Vegetables

Scallops are such a good way to be impressive without being a lot of work.  We have a great seafood place in town so we are lucky to always be able to get high quality scallops, but they are rather pricey. Hence, they usually only make an appearance at our house in the form of an appetizer.  I wanted to do something light, but also wanted something that would contrast well with the sweetness of the scallops.  I love the sweet, rich, almost caramel-ly flavors that scallops really show when they are seared just right, and I thought the acidic pickled flavors in this salad were a good pair.

Seared Scallops with a Pickled Vegetable Salad

Serves 2 appetizer portions

• 4 large sea scallops, side muscle removed
• 1 tablespoon butter
• big handful mixed greens
• 1/3 cup pickled onions
• 5 cornichons, halved and sliced thin
• 1/3 cup roasted red peppers, sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon(ish) olive oil

Thoroughly  season scallops on each side with salt and pepper.

Melt butter over medium high heat in a saute pan.  Add scallops and sear on each side for about 3-4 minutes.  Be sure to let them develop a nice brown sear on each side before you flip them.

Remove from pan and let rest at least 5 minutes.

As scallops are resting, assemble salad.  Mix lettuce, pickled onions, cornichons, roasted red peppers, chives, sherry vinegar, and olive oil in a small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.

Place a small mound of salad on two plates.  Top each salad with 2 scallops.  Serve.