Greens with Poached Egg, Sourdough Croutons, and Sherry-Bacon Vinaigrette

     This is it.  My favorite salad.  And it's my version of the French Salade aux lardons, croûtons et oeuf poché.  First of all, I am crazy about eggs; a poached egg or fried egg in particular, and probably eat more per day than is recommended.  Lately, I've been starting my days with black beans (I cook a pot of beans that are combined with onion, jalapeños, and roasted red bell peppers) and top a bowlful of the beans with a fried egg.  My last meal of the day has recently been this salad of Greens with a Poached Egg, Sourdough Croutons, and a Sherry-Bacon Vinaigrette, and I will most likely eat this salad every day -- I'm a little weird like that -- until all of the vinaigrette stored in a glass jar in my refrigerator is gone.   And, what makes this so easy is, there's no frying of bacon each time I compose this salad.  The bacon is cooked and added to the sherry vinaigrette -- toss mixed bitter greens with the vinaigrette, arrange on plates, scatter large cubes of sourdough that have been toasted in extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt, then top with one (or two, in my case) poached eggs... Perfect!

                                                  Recipe by Charlie Trotter

• 4 oz. bacon, julienned (I use Nueske's)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup sherry wine vinegar
• 1 small shallot, finely diced
• Salt & freshly-ground black pepper
   Cook the bacon until crispy.  Place bacon and 1/4 cup of the rendered bacon fat in a small bowl.  Whisk in the olive oil, vinegar and shallot and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To assemble salad:
Toss bitter greens with vinaigrette.  Top each serving with one to two poached eggs.  Garnish with croutons.  Season poached eggs to taste. 

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