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Wilted Leaf Salad, also known as Killed Lettuce and Onions, Wilted Lettuce and Onions, or Scalded Lettuce and Onions, is an age old Southern recipe that is so incredibly delicious you have to try it to believe it. Most farmers in the southern states raise their own leaf lettuce and scallions and the recipe was probably born out of lack of food in poorer households. It is so delicious, though, that it soon became a requested item at the dinner table.

Originally, the recipe included nothing but the lettuce leaves and fresh, young green onions scalded with bacon grease and the addition of apple cider vinegar. This is because most southern cooks keep a container of bacon grease when we fry bacon to have to make gravy. Since that time, most of us have begun to fry bacon with the intent to make the salad in order to add crumbled bacon bits to the dish. It has always been served in the south with homemade cornbread and is a meal in itself.

I was first introduced to this heavenly salad as a child by my grandmother during summer sleepovers at her house. I well remember going to the garden with Granny to help pick the leafy lettuce and new onions she raised to make the salad for our dinner. Granny called this salad Killed Lettuce and Onions. Though the salad is so quick and easy to prepare, it seemed a lifetime to a child waiting in anticipation for the delicious hot cornbread and salad to appear at the dining table.

Following is the recipe for this delightful salad. You must use a leaf lettuce such as Romaine. Do not buy iceberg lettuce to make this salad if you do not raise your own vegetables.

WILTED LEAF SALAD (KILLED LETTUCE AND ONIONS)

INGREDIENTS:

1 head of Romaine or other leafy lettuce

6 Scallions

6 slices of bacon

Apple cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

Fry the bacon in a large skillet. Remove bacon to paper towel lined plate to drain excess grease. Set skillet with bacon grease aside.

Wash and drain lettuce and scallions. Tear the leaf lettuce into medium size pieces and place in a large serving bowl. Remove root tip from scallions and discard. Chop the scallions into bite size pieces, including the green leafy stems. Add to the bowl of lettuce. Crumble the drained bacon, add to the salad, and toss the three ingredients together.

Place skillet of bacon grease back on the heat. When the grease is hot, add double the amount of apple cider vinegar as there is bacon grease to the skillet. Stir with a spoon to mix and immediately pour over the bowl of lettuce and onions. Toss the salad and serve with fresh, hot cornbread.

If you have grown tired of your usual salads, give this incredible taste sensation a try today! You will be very pleasantly surprised how truly wonderful it is.

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