Improbable combinations

I managed to gobble up nearly half the big bag of lettuce I brought home from the market yesterday, dressed with nothing more than a splash of vinegar and a little salt – a clear sign that I haven’t been getting enough springtime in my diet.

Then my friend Kathy Walton, having noticed my other market purchases, pointed me to this wonderful and easy recipe for Salade Lyonnaise, a traditional French salad involving nothing more complicated than greens – and bacon, and a single poached egg.

At first glance that may sound a little odd to the American palate – but why not? Greens and bacon go beautifully together (think BLTs, or wilted-spinach and bacon salad, one of the canonical Salads Of My People), and hard-cooked egg is a standard topping for lots of composed salads.

Besides, it was an excuse for me to dig out the teeny lidded pan I somehow acquired ages ago and use it for its intended purpose: Poaching a single egg.

It wasn’t a perfect poached egg, appearance-wise; that takes practice, and I haven’t poached an egg in a dog’s age. But the white didn’t unravel as they sometimes do, and it was perfectly done, to my taste: the white firm all the way through, but the rich, orange-yellow farm egg yolk still oozy enough to melt down into the salad and become one with the dressing.

My adjustments: I didn’t have any shallots on hand, but I did have garlic from the market; I minced a clove and added it to the butter I used to toast the croutons. And I had chives from the supermarket, so I used some of those to top the egg.

Pretty,no? Pretty good eating, too!