Things to do with green stuff (1) - Lettuce

OK, green stuff is very boring..in fact so boring I have managed to avoid it since I was given any choice in the matter.

My mum, bless her, had little idea of what to do with green stuff, her idea of salad preparation was to wash lettuce leaves and stick them on a plate along with a sliced up tomato, some cheese or ham and a dollop of disgusting salad cream.

Let's face it, the English (and the Irish) have no idea how to deal with green stuff - the average English cook's view of potential ingredients is that if it cannot be boiled or roasted - forget it!

It was only when I travelled in France a bit that I started to get some idea of how to prepare a salad. The french have the wonderful notion of the hot salad - which basically involves the preparation of salad leaves and tomatoes and maybe onions - cooking something fatty in oil and then stirring them all together in the same bowl. Any Atkineer would see the distinct possibilities in this hot salad idea - especially as regards lettuce - which is not noted for being terribly exciting.

Tonight, I cooked one of my favourites - Feta Cheese and Bacon Salad, which goes thus:-

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Feta Cheese and Bacon Salad

(per person)

50g Feta Cheese
1 tablespoon of olive/sunflower oil
200g of mixed salad leaves (lettuces of various varieties, or rocket, my particular favourite)
2 slices of back bacon

Chop salad leaves and put in salad bowl
Chop Feta cheese into 1cm square chunks and add to salad bowl, mix
Slice bacon into 1cm wide strips
Heat oil in frying pan and fry bacon strips until they are of the desired consistency
when bacon is cooked, remove from heat and transfer straight to salad bowl, mix

Serve

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That is a very basic hot salad. You may, of course, add other salad vegetables such as tomatoes or onions, but I find that the very strong flavours of the feta cheese and the bacon go very well with the salad leaves.

You can use different cheeses (mozzarella is nice)
Or leave out the cheese and go for a different meat or poultry (chicken livers are particularly interesting).

Hope you enjoy this, I certainly do.


Keetje

PS for the Dutch Reader, you can get ready made bacon lardons at Albert Heijn (spekblokjes)