Salade Lyonnaise Recipe

Michele Bogle

Salade Lyonnaise Recipe

As part of the Salad as a Meal series this month, we’ve added the ever-popular Salade Lyonnaise. This salad was created merely as part of an overall gesture by Catherine De’ Medici during her reign in the 1500s when the Queen told her chefs to make new dishes from various ingredients found throughout France.  

Salade Lyonnaise, then made of lettuce with small pieces of bacon, poached eggs, croutons, and vinaigrette dressing, can now be enjoyed in an array of ingredients while still honouring it in its original form with lettuce and poached egg. Named after a method or style of preparing the food, Lyonnaise dishes are cooked or garnished with onions and fried.

Lyon, France, has one of the highest concentrations of restaurants per capita in France. Hosting 91 MICHELIN Guide restaurants to date. Lyon has spawned great dishes, creating some of the world’s most exciting gastronomic foods.

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Though you’ll find Salade Lyonnaise in almost any restaurant in Lyon, the Lyonnais’, or residents can enjoy this beloved salad in any small bistro or bouchons in Lyon where traditional Lyonnaise cuisine is served. Included are those old-fashioned bistros found in the Michelin Star Guide, like Daniel & Denise in Lyon, where award-winning Chef Joseph Viola adds his unforgettable flare to the salad with snout slices, lentils, smoked herring, and potato amandine.

In this recipe, I have given the classic more of a breakfast-for-dinner spin, simply adding fried sweet potato slices to make it a complete and hearty meal in a bowl.

Salade Lyonnaise Recipe

PREPARATION TIME   30 minutes YIELD   4

Equipment

Large non-stick skillet, medium saucepan, cutting board, all-purpose cooking knife, heat-resistant measuring cup, slotted spoon, heat-resistant spatula, peeler, whisk, medium mixing bowl

Ingredients

6 cups arugula and spinach mixed

1 ½ cups or 800 grams of thick-cut bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces

2 long and narrow sweet potatoes, thinly sliced

1 medium-sized red onion, thinly sliced

8 Tbsp sherry vinegar or rice vinegar

4 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

4 eggs

1 tsp white vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper to finish

Instructions

Step 1

On medium-high heat, spread the bacon pieces out in a large skillet. Move the pieces occasionally to avoid sticking together. 

After 2 minutes, when the bacon has rendered some of its fat, lay the sweet potato slices out into the pan. Lower the heat to medium. 

After 5 minutes, if any of the bacon pieces are at the readiness that you prefer, remove them and set them aside to allow the sweet potatoes to make contact with the skillet. Separate the onion slices into rings and lay them on top of the mixture in the skillet. Cook for 15 more minutes, turning as the potato slices become golden on each side. Remove from heat.

Step 2

In a heat-resistant measuring cup, add the olive oil, mustard, and sherry vinegar or rice vinegar, then whisk the ingredients together vigorously and set aside.

Step 3

Fill a medium saucepan ⅔ full of water and bring to a boil. Add a teaspoon of white vinegar to help maintain the integrity of the egg while it boils. When the water is at a steady boil, carefully drop in 4 eggs, one at a time. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook for 1 minute. Remove carefully with the slotted spoon and place on assembled salad dishes.

Step 4

While the water is boiling, heat the dressing in the microwave for 30 seconds or until the mixture is warm.

In a mixing bowl, toss the greens and the salad dressing. Divide into serving bowls.

Lay a few onion rings out on top of the lettuce. 

Fan some sweet potato pieces in a circle like a nest for an egg to sit on.

Sprinkle bacon pieces over the top and finish with freshly ground black pepper.

When released, the luxurious yolk from the egg marries all of the ingredients together into a warm and welcoming meal. Enjoy!