Quiche is great… when you’re in the mood for it. Don’t get me wrong, I love quiche, but it can sometimes be a bit heavy, even when paired with a salad. Here I’ve taken all the same ingredients and rearranged them into a spinach, bacon and comté salad with a soft boiled egg and caramelized onion ranch dressing. Served with some crusty bread it makes for a light yet satisfying brunch.

With bacon and egg, it’s a bit like a Salade Lyonnaise, but rather than go with an acidic vinnaigrette that contrasts the elements of the salad, I made a rich flavorful dressing that brings all the elements together in the same way the custard brings a quiche together. The best part is that it’s fairly simple to make. The only thing that takes a bit of time are the caramelized onions for the dressing. If you’re pressed for time, you can boil the eggs, fry the bacon and make the dressing ahead of time. Then it’s simply a matter of plating it the day of your brunch.

I used soft boiled eggs for this because you can make them ahead of time, but poached eggs would work equally well.

Quiche Salad

Take ingredients commonly found in a quiche and re-imagine them as a salad. (Recipe Credit: Marc Matsumoto of Fresh Tastes)

Ingredients

• 1.6 ounces (45 grams) bacon, cut into 1/8-inch batons
• 1.9 ounces (55 grams, about 1/4 large) onion, finely minced
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 2.8 ounces (80 grams) baby spinach leaves, cleaned and dried
• 1.4 ounces (40 grams) comté, shredded
• 2 soft boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half

Directions

1. Put the bacon in a medium-sized frying pan over medium-low heat. Fry until it just starts to brown and some fat has rendered out (but it is not yet crisp). Transfer the bacon to a plate leaving as much fat in the pan as possible. You should have 1-2 teaspoons of fat in the pan.
2. Add the onion and saute until it starts to brown. Lower the heat and continue frying stirring and flattening the onions so they caramelize evenly until they are evenly brown and glossy (you should be left with just over a tablespoon of caramelized onions).
3. Transfer the onions to a bowl and whisk together with the buttermilk, mayonnaise, salt, onion powder and black pepper.
4. To assemble the salad, toss together the baby spinach, with the bacon and cheese to evenly distribute. Split the salad between two plates and then top with the eggs. Dress to taste and serve with some extra fresh ground black pepper.