This recipe was shared with my sister years ago, and while it’s a family favorite, one of those recipes I tend to forget about. Not sure why? It’s delicious, amazingly crunchy, and comes together quickly. The dressing is 5 ingredients and would be amazing on so many other salad concoctions. Feeding a crowd? This recipe is easily scalable. Serves 4 entree portions in our household. I left the cherry tomatoes off in the photo since they aren’t in season, but they do add a wonderful pop of color to the plate.

I have been eating low-carb/keto since August, and I foresee this going into heavy rotation this spring and summer, either as a side to some grilled protein, or throwing some roasted chicken on it like I did in the photo to make it our entree. Did I mention it has bacon? Bacon makes everything better! And if you cook it in your oven vs. microwave or stovetop, you have much less of a mess! I have discovered parmesan crisps as a great low-carb and gluten-free sub for croutons – have you tried these? The Everything But the Bagel are my favorite…

Recipe

Ingredients

• Dressing
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• Salad
• Romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1/4 pound bacon, fried and crumbled
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup swiss cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup asiago cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 3/4 cup seasoned croutons or parmesan crisps

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread bacon pieces on sheet pan and cook for 15-18 minutes until crisp. Remove from pan and drain on a plate lined with paper towel. Let cool and crumble.
2. At the same time, spread the almonds onto a separate sheet pan and roast for 5 minutes in the oven along with the bacon. Or you can put the almonds in a dry saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat and toast for 4 – 5 minutes, keeping an eye on them as they can burn easily! Let cool.
3. Assemble salad in layers. Top with dressing and mix to combine.