CSA Cooking: Quick-Cured Bacon Pan Vinaigrette over Spinach, Mustard Greens, and Kale with a Poached Egg [with video]
By Sarah Scheffel
on June 20, 2018
Quick-curing your own bacon is easier than you might think, but it's not even necessary for this tasty salad.
This recipe is part of the Just Picked series, a partnership between Modern Farmer + Foodterra. Visit our recipe hub for the complete collection, which will be growing throughout the season.
Quick-Cured Bacon Pan Vinaigrette over Spinach, Mustard Greens, and Kale with a Poached Egg
Quick-curing your own bacon is easier than you might think. You need just one thick slice to make this mouthwatering vinaigrette, but trust us, you’ll want to smoke a few extra pieces for snacking. Don’t feel like firing up your grill? Just swap in a slice of thick-cut bacon and you can whip up this satisfying salad in 15 minutes flat.
Dry rub mix
- 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Salad and bacon pan vinaigrette
- 1 thick (about ½-inch) slice pork belly
- 2 handfuls spinach
- 2 handfuls mustard greens
- 2 handfuls kale
- Olive oil, for crisping bacon
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 2 farm-fresh eggs
- ½ shallot, (minced)
- 1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
- ½ lemon
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon truffle oil (for finishing (optional))
- Preheat a charcoal grill or smoker to 250°F; add apple wood chips and get the smoke going. Mix together dry rub ingredients in a small bowl and place pork belly slice in a baking pan. Sprinkle rub over both sides of pork belly, pressing it into the meat with your hands to adhere. Place pan on grill (we propped it up on a grill extender), close lid, and smoke for 20–30 minutes, until bacon is crisp and infused with apple wood flavor. Remove pan from grill.
- Preheat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high to high heat. Hand tear spinach, mustard greens, and kale into a bowl, tearing kale into smaller pieces than the other greens. Chop bacon (you’ll have about ¼ cup), toss it into the hot skillet with a touch of olive oil, and cook briefly to crisp it up even more.
- Bring a small saucepan of water to just under a boil. Add salt and 2 tablespoons vinegar. Crack an egg into a small ramekin and gently slip egg into simmering water. Add the second egg to the pan and poach both for about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make pan vinaigrette. Stir shallots, mustard, 1–2 squeezes lemon juice, remaining 1 teaspoon vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste into the chopped bacon and drippings in hot skillet.
- Pour warm vinaigrette over greens, tossing to coat. Divide salad between two serving bowls, Top each serving with a poached egg and finish with plenty of cracked pepper and ½ teaspoon truffle oil, if desired.
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