Green Salad with Bacon Roses and Strawberries Recipe
In case you haven’t guessed, we’re big fans of making show-stopping salads the star of your table. And while the visual aspect always remains a close runner-up to the taste, sometimes it’s just good to get a little creative… like making roses out of bacon and hearts out of strawberries. So, here we are. But this salad is more than just a perfect Valentine’s Day appetizer. A refreshing mix of iceberg and green leaf lettuce gives you the ideal backdrop for a tangy tangerine dressing, crunchy toasted quinoa, and maybe some dried cranberries and slices of almond if you really feel like going all out. And you definitely should.
(Oh, and if you’re making this salad just because — i.e., not for a Valentine’s date — you can just slice the strawberries in a normal shape. They’ll taste the same, we promise.)
- Active Time:
- 25 min
- Total TIME:
- 60 minutes
- SERVINGS:
- 2
Ingredients
- 2 cups Taylor Farms Shredded Green Leaf Lettuce
- 2 cups Taylor Farms Shredded Iceberg Lettuce
- 6 strips thick-cut bacon
- 1/4th cup quinoa, toasted
- Honey, for brushing
- Toothpicks
- 2 cups ripe strawberries
- dried cranberries, optional
- sliced almonds, optional
For the Tangerine Dressing:
- ¼ cup fresh tangerine juice
- 1 tsp tangerine zest (optional, for a stronger flavor)
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (white wine or champagne vinegar also work well)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small shallot, finely minced (optional)
- ½ tsp salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp fresh black pepper, or to taste
- Optional sweetener: 1 tsp honey, maple syrup, or sugar
Directions
Bacon Roses:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Take a strip of bacon and starting at one end, roll up tightly into a rosette, making sure to roll with the darker meat side up, not the fat side.
- Secure the roll with two toothpicks, pushing through the bacon rose at the bottom to form a cross. Place the roses on a wire rack over a foil-lined sheet pan. Brush lightly with honey. Bake for 45-55 minutes until the bacon is cooked. Once cooled, remove the toothpicks.
Strawberry Hearts:
- Pull the leaves off of a whole strawberry. Using a sharp paring knife, cut the berry in quarters, cut a V-shaped notch on top of the berry and remove the berry’s core.
- In a large salad bowl, toss Taylor Farms Shredded Green Leaf lettuce and Shredded Iceberg lettuce with cranberries, sliced almonds, toasted quinoa, and tangerine vinaigrette dressing.
- Divide the prepared salad into two bowls. Top each with bacon roses and strawberry hearts. Serve and enjoy!
What Do You Even Serve with This Rosey Salad?
We’re all about treating yourself, but if you’re making bacon roses, odds are you have some company over. And to the shock of no one, bacon roses tend to stand out in a spread, so this salad has a habit of stealing attention from the main dish. Still, it pairs quite well with a surprising variety of dishes.
Set it next to grilled chicken with a squeeze of lemon if you’re feeling something simple. Maple-glazed salmon or a pork roast also plays nicely with this salad — the berries cut through all the richness and add another dimension of flavor. If you’re brunching, put the salad alongside a spinach quiche or maybe just a plate of buttery biscuits and watch the bacon roses disappear before anyone grabs a fork. It even works with tomato soup and baked potatoes when comfort food is on the menu. There are no wrong answers here. Let the salad guide you.
