Green Salad with Baby Red Potatoes, Bacon, Shaved Smoked Cheddar, and Onion with Lemon Vinaigrette

I suspect that the title is long enough for readers to come to their own conclusions about this recipe, but even so, I’m going to blab. 

Chilled red potatoes are my new croutons.  They have this ever-so-subtly satisfying pop when your teeth break into their skins, and taste even more earthy and mildly creamy when cold.  Remember how much you liked the cold potato salad at all those barbecues in the summer that you filled yourself up with it before you got to try the burnt stuff on the grill?  That’s how much you will love them in a green salad. 

As for this particular recipe, it’s pretty much a whack-on-your-head parade of flavors, dominated by the smoky bacon and smoked cheddar, and some fierce crisp onions added to the mix.  It’s a pungent, packed room–just something I was in the mood for. 

Also–there’s definitely much better uses for smoked cheddar out there where it can easily stand alone as the star flavor, but for now, it’s just what I had on hand.

Green Salad with Red Potatoes, Bacon, Smoked Cheddar, and Onion
Serves 2

1/2 head of Green Leaf lettuce, washed and torn to small pieces
4-6 small red potatoes, boiled and sliced in half depending on size
About 2 oz smoked cheddar cheese shavings
4 strips bacon, cooked until crispy in microwave with paper towels
1/8 medium onion, sliced 

Lemon Vinaigrette
Makes 2 servings – about 3 tablespoons dressing

1 tblspn fresh lemon juice
1/2 tspn sugar
1 pinch dry mustard powder
2 pinches salt
Ground black pepper to taste
About 2 tblspns extra virgin olive oil, drizzled in slowly while whisking together mixture until emulsified (no longer separated and slightly thickened)

Toss lettuce with the dressing.  Transfer to serving bowl or dish and add cheddar, onions, and crumbled bacon on top. 

Cost Calculator 

1/2 head lettuce (at $1.39/head): $0.69
4 slices bacon (at $1.99/package of 8): $1.00
2 oz smoked cheddar (at $3.79/8 oz): $0.94
1/8 medium onion (at $0.69/lb): ≈ $0.04
Olive oil, salt, sugar, tbspn lemon juice, mustard, sugar, pepper: ≈ $0.15

Total: $2.97

Health Factor

Five brownie points – not good for a salad, but not surprising for one with bacon.  The good part about it, though, is that this salad can be your complete meal.  The potatoes really help with that.  Also, of course, it’s a salad so it’s very fresh.