I have mentioned before that I'm trying to find some new salad recipes to throw in the regular mix of salads that we currently make every week or two (or did before I started this blog and tried to add more variety to our diets so I wasn't constantly repeating).
This salad was my newest attempt, adapted from the recipe here. I added grilled chicken because I just didn't think it would be filling enough with bacon alone.
I made croutons in the oven like I always do, rather than in a skillet as the recipe suggests. I also seasoned them with garlic powder instead of pepper, since some of the comments mentioned that the recipe was way too peppery.
The dressing was interesting. It was pretty sour, so I added quite a bit of extra olive oil and sugar to try to counter balance that. I also substituted sour cream for half of the mayo, based on suggestions in the comments on allrecipes.com. The bacon drippings didn't really seem to add any flavor, and made the mouth feel of the dressing somewhat unpleasant. I burned some of the bacon since I'm used to cooking it in the microwave, and had to start over just to get enough drippings to make the dressing.
Hubby will eat just about anything with bacon, but he thought it would have been better with caesar dressing. When I pointed out that if I did that the only thing separating this salad from the chicken caesar I make would be the bacon, he didn't see any problem with that.
I think I will make a salad like this again, but just stick to ranch dressing in the future. It will be a lot cheaper to make (basil is so pricey) and probably taste better too. I might also add some shredded cheddar cheese and maybe some cucumbers next time - that sounds pretty good!
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Estimated cost of meal:
Bacon: $1
Chicken: $1
Mayo/sour cream: $.50
Vinegar/oil: $.50
Bread: $1.65
Lettuce: $1.50
Basil: $2
Total: $8.15 (so not worth that)
Dinner at McDonald's: $12
Leaner Life Savings: $3.85 or 32%
This salad was my newest attempt, adapted from the recipe here. I added grilled chicken because I just didn't think it would be filling enough with bacon alone.
I made croutons in the oven like I always do, rather than in a skillet as the recipe suggests. I also seasoned them with garlic powder instead of pepper, since some of the comments mentioned that the recipe was way too peppery.
The dressing was interesting. It was pretty sour, so I added quite a bit of extra olive oil and sugar to try to counter balance that. I also substituted sour cream for half of the mayo, based on suggestions in the comments on allrecipes.com. The bacon drippings didn't really seem to add any flavor, and made the mouth feel of the dressing somewhat unpleasant. I burned some of the bacon since I'm used to cooking it in the microwave, and had to start over just to get enough drippings to make the dressing.
Hubby will eat just about anything with bacon, but he thought it would have been better with caesar dressing. When I pointed out that if I did that the only thing separating this salad from the chicken caesar I make would be the bacon, he didn't see any problem with that.
I think I will make a salad like this again, but just stick to ranch dressing in the future. It will be a lot cheaper to make (basil is so pricey) and probably taste better too. I might also add some shredded cheddar cheese and maybe some cucumbers next time - that sounds pretty good!
---------------------------------
Estimated cost of meal:
Bacon: $1
Chicken: $1
Mayo/sour cream: $.50
Vinegar/oil: $.50
Bread: $1.65
Lettuce: $1.50
Basil: $2
Total: $8.15 (so not worth that)
Dinner at McDonald's: $12
Leaner Life Savings: $3.85 or 32%
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