Polish Wilted Lettuce Salad Salata z Boczkiem Recipe
This recipe for Polish wilted lettuce salad or sałata z boczkiem (sah-WAH-tah zeh BAWCH-kyem) is made with a warm bacon vinaigrette.
Romaine or iceberg lettuce is the best to use because, with tender lettuces like Bibb or Boston, the greens will wilt too much.
If you add chopped hard-cooked eggs to this salad, it becomes the main course offering.
This hot bacon salad dressing lends a smoky, sweet-and-salty flavor to any greens or vegetables, especially green beans or a baby spinach, hard-cooked egg, red onion, and sliced mushroom salad.
For variety, you can swap out the white vinegar with balsamic or red-wine vinegar, olive oil in place of the canola or vegetable oil, light-brown sugar instead of white sugar, and red onion instead of white or yellow onion. If you like a little heat, add a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Ingredients
- 1 head iceberg or romaine lettuce, washed, dried and torn coarsely into pieces
- 1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 large finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar or to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Step 1
Place lettuce in a heatproof bowl.
In a large skillet, fry bacon until half cooked. Add onion and continue to fry bacon until crisp but not burned.
Drain all but 4 tablespoons bacon grease from the skillet.
Add water, vinegar, and sugar, and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Pour hot vinaigrette over lettuce, add salt and pepper to taste and toss. Serve immediately.