Wilted Lettuce Leaf Salad
This salad is unusual to say the least. When I saw it on a vintage recipe board, I realized it was somewhat familiar to me.
In my grandmothers recipe box, I have a similar recipe called German Wilted Cabbage.
As I tried to find out more information on this salad, I realized that sometimes even the great and powerful google is not omnipotent.
I was able to find a reference to wilted lettuce salad being a German immigrant recipe, popularized in the Midwest. Other than that, it’s kind of unclear where this recipe evolved from.
Most wilted green recipes call for a hearty green leaf (so NOT iceberg). Since I have done it with cabbage, I would imagine that it could also be done with other leafy greens, such as Swiss Chard or Spinach. I would think one of those italian blend salads with the radicchio and various bibb and butter lettuces would me lovely with this recipe.
This is a salad that calls for bite sized leafy greens and it is then topped with a hot salad dressing, essentially causing the greens to wilt under the heat. The dressing is a hot bacon, sweet/savory, and may people add things on top, such as hard boiled egg, radish slices etc.
let me know if you have tried this and what leafy greens you have used!
ingredients
8 cups leafy green lettuce, torn into bite size pieces
6-8 slices of bacon
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 TBSP sugar
DIRECTIONS
Cook bacon on stovetop until crispy. Remove and crumble..
Into the bacon drippings, add the onion and sautee until tender.
Add the vinegar, water and sugar. Stir.
Add bacon back in.
Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
Place lettuce in large bowl.
Slowly pour hot dressing over the greens, toss to coat.
You may add sliced of hard boiled egg or radishes or other items at this point.
