Wilted Salad with Creamy Bacon Dressing

This is a sponsored review from BlogHer and Kraft.

Wilted Salad with Cream Bacon Dressing ~ This fast and easy salad can pull double-duty as a side dish or a main meal by simply adding some grilled chicken. Simple to assemble, full of flavor and popping with colors it’s sure to please no matter how you serve it.

If you’ve been a reader, then you know last July I created these Neapolitan Mini Cheesecakes for RWOP contest. This year I didn’t enter, but I am creating recipes in honor of the RWOP contest for Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of RWOP community and Paula Deen’s annual RWOP contest.  

This time around I am happy to be cheering from sidelines for all those who entered. But since this is a contest, a few winning dishes had to be selected into the finalist round for each category. To see all the finalists click here. And don’t forget to check out what finalist dishes these other awesome bloggers recreated here. The recipe you see featured is from one of four finalists for the side dish category.

Now, I’m sure it would seem more natural for me to choose a dessert to feature, but I hate to be pigeonholed so I chose the Wilted Salad you see below.

And O-M-G is this good. Don’t be fooled by its simple appearance. This is no ordinary salad—the dressing really makes this dish!

Let me explain . . .

You know how some women go crazy for shoes, and how even the thought of a owning a pair of Jimmy Choos can induce a super high. Bacon has that same affect on me. Combine it with the word “drippings” as in bacon drippings and I’m at the mercy of how quickly I can go fork to mouth.

Take a look at how Bekah Frost combined the bacon drippings, Philadelphia Cream Cheese and a few other supporting ingredients to create a salad that is one of my family’s new favorites. It’s supremely delicious and highly addictive.

I made this the other night for dinner and as many of you know Matt is not only a picky eater, but he also has trouble digesting raw vegetables. So while I served this to Cole and I in all its glory, I made Matt’s with just the iceberg, bacon bits and some cheese. Guess what?  It went over like a  dance song at a Rave!

It’s super easy to make. Cook your bacon like I did below, add in the remaining salad dressing ingredients and stir over medium heat to combine. To make things easy, I heated the cream cheese in the microwave first before adding it to the pan. I left out the red onions for my picky eater, but if I had made this for myself they would not have been omitted.

Then simply toss it into the salad portion and you are done!

Of course you don’t have to place your salad in a cabbage bowl like I did but I couldn’t help myself. It’s one of my favorite ways to dress up a salad and everyone loves the presentation. Thank you, Bekah, for the wonderful recipe! Good luck to you and your fellow Finalists. I will be tuning in June 30^th to cheer you and the others on for the live event in Savannah where Paula Deen will announce this year’s winner.

Wilted Salad

By Bekah Frost

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

Salad Portion:

• 2 heads of lettuce
• 3 radishes sliced
• 4 green onions sliced
• 1 1/2 cup(s) of mushrooms chopped
• 1 broccoli head

Salad Dressing Portion:

• 5 slices of bacon
• 1 tsp. of garlic salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. of white sugar
• 2 pinch of salt
• 2 pinch of pepper
• 1/4 cup(s) of apple cidar vinegar
• 4 ounce(s) of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 2 tbsp. of white wine
• 1 cup(s) of Cheddar cheese

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl add choped up lettuce, sliced radishes, sliced mushrooms, sliced green onions and chopped broccoli; set aside
2. Fry bacon in skillet. Take bacon out of skillet and drain on paper towel. Add, salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, cream cheese and wine to skillet and stir or whisk the dressing together.
3. Chopped bacon into pieces and add to salad mixture. Add dressing over salad mixture and toss to combine. Finish with cheese on top.