Step 1

Note: if you want to make the pickled onions, I suggest making them the night before or doing it an hour or so before assembling and eating the salad. I also suggest making the dressing first and letting it stay warm on the stovetop.

Step 2

Be sure to grill the corn as a first step if you want it grilled too! This is also a great recipe to use leftover grilled corn on the cob. You can use any kind of corn here that you like.

Step 3

Since this salad calls for a lot of chopped ingredients, I chop the chicken, dates and corn off the cob first. I measure out goat cheese and almonds.

Step 4

Toss the spring greens in a large bowl with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Assemble your salad by adding on the chicken, corn, dates, goat cheese, onions and almonds. Add on the avocado right before serving. Drizzle everything with the hot bacon dressing and eat!

Step 5

Fry the bacon in a skillet until it’s browned and crispy, reserving the bacon fat for the dressing. Of course, you can do this ahead of time and store the bacon fat in the fridge! If you use very lean bacon, you may need an extra piece or 2 to get the 3 tablespoons.

Step 6

Add the bacon fat, minced garlic, vinegar, sugar and mustard to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the dressing slightly emulsifies. Season with the salt and pepper. Before serving, add in the crumbled bacon. You can keep this over low heat while stirring occasionally until ready to serve. You can also store it in the fridge. I suggest reheating it in a saucepan. This is the combo I’ve come to love over the years, but you can experiment with different vinegars, more bacon fat and other spices too!