Bacon Lettuce and Tomato Salad

This BLT Salad, as in Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Salad with curly endive lettuce will perk up your winter salad selections.

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We had a ban on Romaine Lettuce these past few months due to some untraceable contamination.  So I was casting about for other salad ideas.  I like the baby lettuce/spinach selections but I find they start to deteriorate rather quickly.

I have tried storing them in layers of paper towel to reduce the moisture content. That helps but it is still a bit hit and miss. The little red baby Oak Lettuce is the biggest culprit I find.

Cue - Curly Endive or Frisée Lettuce.  There are 2 types of frisée as well. One is short- about 6 inches tall- that is not the one I used.  The one I used is over 12 inches tall.  It has a rather firm white spine and the green parts are rather coarse and curly.

It is pretty sturdy and keeps well.  The trick is to cut it up rather finely because in big chunks it will feel tough to chew on.  Chopped finely and evenly it is fine and a nice change.  It has a bit of a bitter edge, hardly noticeable.  Far less bitter than radicchio.

The Sandwich Inspiration

I was imagining a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich without the bread so I went with a mayonnaise based dressing because that is what I would put on my sandwich.  You can thin it  with a bit of sweet relish to offset the slight bitterness of the frisée and make it more pourable.

I added hardboiled eggs to up the protein and because it just felt right!  With the hard boiled eggs you could use it as a main meal.  If you want to know how to make perfect hardboiled eggs check out How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs.

A head of Frisée is quite a bit of lettuce.  So this would easily serve 6 as a side or 4 as a main.

You might consider a grating of cheddar cheese as an optional topping, especially if you are serving as a main course.