I’m personally a savory breakfast person and I always love a good breakfast salad on a brunch menu. This one is super simple and gets elevated with a sweet and salty bacon date crumble. Tons of herbs, crunchy veg, and creamy avocado get tossed in a dijon dressing as the base of the salad. It gets topped with tangy goat cheese, which pairs so well with the sweet and salty bacon and dates. The egg and bacon combo on top add protein and make it feel very brunchy.
Ingredient highlight
Fresh herbs! All fresh herbs (like parsley!) contain essential oils that aid in digestion, improve circulation, reduce the risk of heart disease, and phytonutrients that fight inflammation (to name a few!).
Read my full blog post about fresh herbs here!
Servings 4
Prep Time 20 minutes 
Cook Time 25 minutes Ingredients
For the bacon date crumble:
- 10-12 oz bacon
- ½ cup dates, chopped small (about 3 oz or 5 medjool dates)
For the dressing:
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
For the salad:
- 4-5 cups loosely packed herbs (parsley, dill, cilantro, and/or mint)*
- 2 watermelon radishes (8 oz) or 1 large bunch radishes, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)**
- 3 cups thinly sliced snap peas and/or fennel
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 4-6 boiled eggs, quartered or chopped, for topping
- Crumbled goat cheese, for topping
- *The herbs are acting as our salad greens, so keep herbs like parsley, mint or basil whole and you can just tear the cilantro or dill into big pieces. I tested using parsley and dill.
- **If your radish bunch gives you less than 2 cups, just add some extra snap peas, fennel, or any other thinly sliced spring veg.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. To a lined baking sheet, add the bacon. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the bacon over, and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the bacon is looking almost done and crispy, but could go for another 8 minutes (we want the bacon very crispy in the end). Time will vary based on how thick or thin your bacon is, so keep an eye on it.
- Scooch the bacon over to make space for the dates. Add the date pieces and gently toss in the bacon fat. Bake for another 6-8 minutes or until the dates are starting to caramelize. You can remove the bacon if it looks done before the dates are done.
- Use a slotted spatula to transfer the bacon and dates to a paper towel lined plate to soak up the excess fat. Once they have both cooled off enough to handle, roughly chop the bacon and then toss with the dates.
- Meanwhile, to a large bowl add all of the dressing ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add the herbs, radish, snap pea and/or fennel, and avocado. Use your hands to toss gently to coat.
- Transfer to a serving platter or large shallow bowl. Top with the boiled eggs, bacon and date crumble, goat cheese, black pepper, and a generous drizzle of olive oil, if you’d like.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Cook the bacon/dates and make the crumble topping
- Prep 4-5 cups loosely packed herbs (parsley, dill, cilantro, and/or mint)
- Thinly slice radishes (about 2 cups)
- Thinly slice 2-3 cups snap peas and/or fennel
- Boil 4-6 eggs
- Make the dressing
Substitutions:
- To make vegetarian, leave out the bacon. Instead, pan-fry the chopped dates in some olive oil until they become caramelized. At the very end stir in about ½ cup finely chopped walnuts along with ½ teaspoon salt and 1-2 teaspoons smoked paprika. Let that cool off for a bit before using it as your topping.
- To make vegan, see above + skip the eggs and goat cheese. Add some canned beans, cooked lentils, or pan-fried tofu.
- You need 4-5 cups worth of thinly sliced spring veggies. You can use whatever you want – radishes, fennel, cabbage, snap peas, blanched asparagus, etc…
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge:
- Salad: up to 6 days
- Bacon date crumble: up to 6 days
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Serve the salad topped with all the toppings. Pop the bacon date crumble in the microwave for 10-20 second to warm it up a bit before topping.
- Stretch the salad by adding in some extra herbs, arugula, or spring veg along with some extra lemon juice and salt.
- You can top this salad with any cooked protein or eat it as a side/slaw to another meal.
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