Summer Chopped Salad with Slab Bacon

To prepare the dressing, in a food processor fitted with an S-blade or in a blender, combine 1/2 cup (3 oz./85 g) of the cheese, the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper and process until smooth. While the mixture is blending, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Transfer the dressing to a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 5 days.

To prepare the slab bacon, preheat an oven to 400°F (200°C) on the convection setting. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set a wire rack on top.

Place the bacon slices on the rack-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Using the back of a spoon, spread 2 Tbs. of the brown sugar over the top of the bacon. Bake until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. Using tongs, flip the bacon and spread the remaining 2 Tbs. brown sugar over the top. Bake until deeply caramelized, about 15 minutes more.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the bacon cool directly on the rack. When cool enough to handle, chop the bacon into whatever size pieces you like. Set aside.

To prepare the chopped salad, slice the lettuce with the slicer attachment: Fit a Breville Paradice food processor with the slicer attachment set to setting 8. With the pusher removed from the chute of the lid, place a few romaine leaves through the chute and using the pusher, push down on the leaves. By putting the pusher in place on the lid, the machine should begin to slice the lettuce. If needed, do this in a couple of batches so you don’t overfill the processor bowl. Place the chopped romaine in an extra-large, wide serving bowl, filling about one-sixth of the bowl.

Using a sharp knife, thinly slice the watermelon radishes and arrange them in about one-sixth of the bowl.

Dice the cucumbers using the 12-mm attachments: Assemble the 12-mm slicing disc followed by the 12-mm dicing distributor. With the pusher removed from the chute of the lid, place a cucumber lengthwise through the chute and using the pusher, push down on the cucumber. By putting the pusher in place on the lid, the machine should begin to slice and then dice the cucumber. Repeat to dice the remaining cucumbers. If any diced pieces are stuck, turn off the machine and remove the dicing distributor, then push out the stuck pieces. Arrange the cucumbers in about one-sixth of the bowl.

Dice the avocados using the 16-mm attachments: Assemble the 16-mm slicing disc followed by the 16-mm dicing distributor. With the pusher removed from the chute of the lid, place an avocado half through the chute and using the pusher, push down on the avocado. By putting the pusher in place on the lid, the machine should begin to slice and then dice the avocado. Repeat to dice the remaining avocado halves. If any diced pieces are stuck, turn off the machine and remove the dicing distributor, then push out the stuck pieces. Arrange the avocados in about one-sixth of the bowl.

Using a sharp knife, cut the beets into thin julienne slices and arrange them in about one-sixth of the bowl.

Arrange the chickpeas in the remining one-sixth of the bowl.

Drizzle half of the dressing over the salad, then top with the remaining 1/2 cup (3 oz./85 g) cheese, the bacon and several grindings of pepper. Alternatively, drizzle the salad with half of the dressing and toss, adding more dressing if desired, the top the salad with the cheese, bacon and pepper. Serve the remaining dressing alongside. Serves 4 to 6.

Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen