#BasicAF Bacon Salad

I don't make salads often... but adding bacon to greens is like adding nut butter to, well, anything - you can't really go wrong! This recipe is adapted from one of my favourite food bloggers @PaleOmg with a few substitutes to make refined sugar and egg free!

INGREDIENTS

For the honey balsamic vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

• 2 tablespoons honey (or sub monk fruit sweetener)

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• pinch of salt

• pinch of black pepper

For the salad

• 1/2 pound @TruLocal nitrate free bacon

• 5 ounces spring mix greens (or whatever green you prefer)

• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

• 2 pears, thinly sliced

• 1 tablespoon hemp hearts

• salt and pepper, for garnish

For the candied walnuts

• 1/4 cup Lakanto monk fruit sweetner (sold at Nature's Fare)

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• pinch of salt

• 1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax seed combined with 2.5 tbsp water - let it sit in fridge for 15mins)

• 1 teaspoon water

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cup walnut halves

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together 1/4 cup monk fruit sweetener, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together flax egg, water and vanilla extract. Add walnuts to the bowl and toss until coated. Then add "sugar" mixture to the large bowl.

4. Place on baking sheet in a single layer. Put in oven for 35 minutes, tossing every 5-10 minutes to help cook evenly on all sides.

5. Once the nuts are done cooking, remove from oven, sprinkle with 2 tbsp monk fruit, toss, then let cool completely on baking sheet.

6. While walnuts cool, place all ingredients for the vinaigrette in a small blender and blend until smooth. You can also just simply add this to a jar and shake to combined!

7. Lastly, place bacon in a large nonstick pan over medium heat and cook bacon on both sides until crispy. Remove and set aside on a paper towel to soak up any excess fat, then dice up into small pieces.

8. Now all you need to do is build your salad! Add greens to a bowl, then the pears, bacon, candied walnuts, hemp hearts, and salt & pepper! Then add dressing and toss before serving!