This salad, which calls back to the classic bacon-plus-bitter pairing, is a flexible recipe—one I like to think of as a “baseline.” <br /> <br />My preference is to use bitter and wild-tasting dandelion greens alongside chicory, which, although not as bitter, still has a stern austerity. Soaking the greens in ice water, then chilling them, covered in a cotton cloth, in the fridge, leaches some of the bitterness from the dandelion greens and crisps everything up so that the leaves are crunchy enough to withstand the warm dressing. And while I enjoy this salad specifically as a way to make bitter leaves incredibly palatable, I've also used kale or beautiful baby spinach with great success. <br /> <br />The richness of bacon or any fatty pork pairs well with bitter flavors, adding sweetness and salty fat to balance out the leanness of the greens. You can modify it by using pancetta instead of bacon or by playing around with different vinegars: Try balsamic for a deeper, sharper flavor, or sherry vinegar for a sweeter taste. Sometimes I like to add a spoonful of mustard to the vinaigrette just before I add the vinegar. <br /> <br />The croutons, which add crunchy textural contrast, can also be swapped out: Feel free to substitute nuts of some kind, like roasted almonds or pecans, or even pumpkin seeds.

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