Salad with Navy Beans, Goat Cheese, Grape Tomatoes, and Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

• Meat

  • 1/4 lb Bacon, thick-sliced

• Produce

  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 2 Garlic cloves
  • 1 cup Navy beans, dried
  • 1/2 lb Salad greens
  • 1 Salad with navy beans
  • 2 Shallots, large
  • 1/2 cup Variety cherry tomatoes

• Baking & Spices

  • 1 Black pepper, freshly ground
  • 3 tbsp Salt

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 3 tbsp Champagne vinegar
  • 2 2/3 tbsp Olive oil, Extra Virgin

• Bread & Baked Goods

  • 3/4 cut into cubes 2 c. tuscan or italian or peasant bread

• Dairy

  • 1/4 lb Goat cheese, mild

Found on thatsusanwilliams.com

Description

Ingredients

• Salad with Navy Beans, Goat Cheese, Cherry Tomatoes, Croutons, and Warm Bacon Dressing
• 1 c. dried navy beans, picked over, rinsed and soaked overnight
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 3 T. salt
• 2 c. Tuscan or Italian or peasant bread, cut into 3/4 cubes
• 2 T. + 2 t. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 lb. thick-sliced bacon
• 2 large shallots, finely chopped
• 3 T. Champagne vinegar
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 lb. salad greens (I use the spring mix blend)
• 1/2 c. any variety cherry tomatoes (any variety: I have used grape tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, heirloom mini-tomatoes, and mini-pearls), halved
• 1/4 lb. mild goat cheese, crumbled into 1 pieces

Directions

• When I soak my beans, I soak them in a brine containing about 3 T. salt to 4 qts. of water. Drain the brine off the beans, rinse the beans, and in a medium saucepan, combine the beans with the bay leaf, garlic and 4 c. of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to moderately low, cover partially, and simmer the beans until tender but not mushy, about 1 hr and a half. Drain the beans and let cool to room temperature.Discard the bay leaf and the garlic. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350º. Toss the bread cubes with 2 t. of olie oil and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden but not dry. In a non-reactive skillet (and this is important because youre going to make the vinaigrette in the same skillet) fry the bacon until crisp. (I use an oven worthy skillet that is not cast iron, and fry my bacon in my oven: 400º for 20 minutes will about do it.) Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain. Add the remaining 2 T. of the olive oil to the fat in the skillet. Add the shallots and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, till shallots are softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, season with salt and pepper and keep warm. In a large bowl, toss the salad greens with the beans, bacon, toasted croutons and tomatoes. Add the dressing and toss. Add the goat cheese and toss gently but thoroughly. Serve immediately.