I am totally not a big meat eater, but the brussels sprouts thread a couple of weeks ago turned me onto the wonders of bacon, brussels sprouts and onions. Probably the first time in about a decade I’ve bought bacon.
Now, I want more.
Don’t give me your steak/chicken/shrimp wrapped bacon recipes; that’s too much meat in one sitting for me. But I remembered…I fucking LOVE bacon and I promise I will try any recipe that involves vegetables in a major role with bacon playing the tasty piccolo.
the “world’s best sandwich” is supposed to be made thus: slather some mayo on a slice of bread of your own choice, layer letuce, tomatoes and cucumber, mat that on top with fried bacon, and then a fried egg. cover with another slice. i thought i was funny until i tried it. it’s a filling and wholesome-tasting combo. also works as a nice “first storey” for any clubhouse sandwich you want to make. my personal choice for the second floor is main lobster.
Take whole green bean, dump Italian dressing on them. After they’ve sat a while, gather little bundles if beans and wrap a piece of bacon around it and hold that together with a toothpick. Bake at about 350 until the bacon is done - usually takes longer than you think it will so go have a couple glasses of wine.
Bacon is a great ingredient in a quiche, if you like that sort of thing.
Fry 2-3 pieces of bacon, remove bacon from pan. In the bacon grease, fry some mustard and mashed garlic. Then add as much spinach as the pan will hold. Using tongs, turn the spinach often until it is lightly wilted. Put on plate and crumble bacon over spinach.
I just cooked up a hearty soup with bacon: chop some bacon and onions, fry up in soup pot. Add butter and a tube of frozen creamed corn. Let the corn thaw. Add whole kernel corn, milk and some chicken broth. Heat, season to taste. Add some sharp cheddar cheese. (I didn’t measure anything, just did the “add stuff til it looks like what I have in mind” thing. Chowder-ish, quick, and my gang enjoyed it with some crusty bread. Cooked in about 45 minutes.)
If I liked bell peppers, I’d have probably added those, and diced carrots would’ve also been nice. I’m sure there are jillions of similar recipes available.
Blech. Cucumber and egg do not belong on a BLT. But hand-sliced artisan bread, home-made mayo, thick-cut bacon, heirloom tomatoes and hand-leafed lettuce certainly do.
Brown some diced bacon. Remove to paper toweling. Saute chunked zucchini and diced onion in the bacon fat from browning the bacon. Minced garlic, too. Add some corn. Throw in some pimentoes or chopped roasted red peppers. Add the bacon crumbles back in. Salt and pepper. Parmesan cheese if you’re so inclined.
Minestrone soup uses bacon as the only meat in an otherwise vegetable soup.
Dice onion, carrot, potato, celery and slice up your bacon. Cook the bacon for 3 mins in olive oil then add the aforesaid vegetables and season with salt pepper and thyme. Stir and cover on low heat for 5 mins. Add stock+hot water. Later add 1 can of peeled tomatoes (chopped), kidney beans, cabbage, and any other vegetables you feel like.
Check taste and add tomato paste or more stock if necessary.
Slightly different version of the same thing with a few more details.
Chop the raw bacon into small pieces. Saute bacon with chopped onion in a large pot. Cook until bacon is done but not crispy. Add a bunch of green beans, chicken stock (probably could get away with veggie stock if it is an issue), and crushed red pepper flakes to taste. My Grandma told me the pepper was her secret ingredient, but she only used a tiny pinch… I use quite a bit more. Boil for much longer than my wife thinks any veggie should be subjected to.
These won’t be the crisp and crunchy green beans you may be used to, but the flavor and texture is authentic to the kind my kinfolk made many many years ago.
Bacon and Kale is great - fry up like half a pound of bacon in a big pan, then pull out the bacon. Fry some garlic and red pepper flakes a bit in the remaining grease. Add a bunch of kale, rinsed and pulled off the stems. Stir it up and cover for a while to steam/fry down. When the greens are tender add some salt and pepper and devour.
Basically the same procedure works well with broccoli, though I like more garlic with the brocc than kale. Either one pairs well with pasta too.
Simple to prepare, cheap and totally delicious. I make this quite often.
I like it even better with smoked bacon, but really any sort of bacon will do.
Chop up a pound of bacon and fry till done in a HUGE skillet. While it cooks, chop up a med sized head of cabbage into pieces about 2" X 3", and 1-2 onions, depending on how onion-y you like things. When the bacon is done, dump the cabbage & onions in the skillet, season as you like- salt, pepper, red pepper, garlic, whatever. Cook over med/hi heat till cabbage is soft & slightly browned, stirring often.