Warm mushroom, chestnut, and bacon salad

Bacon, mushrooms, and chestnuts go together so well. This salad recipe came from Ripe by Nigel Slater (one of my new cookbooks). 

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This cookbook is really lovely and is full of beautiful photographs and delicious looking recipes featuring fruit. I guess I never really consider things like chestnuts to be fruit, but they are, and there's a whole chestnut section in the book.  

I bought up a bunch of chestnuts while they were available, so I was immediately drawn to this section of the book. The recipe recommends frisee or baby spinach as the greens, but I had radicchio in the fridge and thought it would also be good in this salad and provide another color. 

The warm mixture on top of the greens provides a nice contrast. I also added some red wine vinegar because I thought it was needed to cut through the fat and boost the dressing flavor.

My husband and I ate this as a light dinner with some bread and cheese. I think that if we weren't already having some cheese in our meal, some crumbled gorgonzola or goat cheese would have made an excellent addition to this salad.  

Below is my slightly modified version of this recipe for two. Serve this as a side dish or as a light lunch or dinner with soup and/or bread.

Warm mushroom, chestnut, and bacon salad
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pat of unsalted butter 
3 slices of bacon, diced 
about 8 oz. oyster mushrooms, sliced
about 3 oz. roasted and peeled chestnuts, halved
1 clove garlic, minced
sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
about 4 cups greens (I used a mix of radicchio and frisee)

Warm the olive oil and butter in a small skillet. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set on a paper towel.

Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to turn brown and soft. Add the garlic and chestnuts to the skillet and stir. Cook for about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the red wine vinegar and stir well.

Divide the greens equally onto two salad plates or bowls. Top each with half of the mushroom mixture (including any drippings as this is the dressing) and half of the bacon. Serve immediately.