Watercress, Pear, Bacon & Pecan Salad

I've been having a craving for this salad for a couple of weeks now. My plans are to start eating vegan only as of Monday, October 26, 2009, so Sunday night was my last opportunity to satisfy the meat craving for awhile.

I left the making of the salad too late. I was way too hungry when I started chopping up and frying the bacon and shallots together. I was literally shaking from low blood sugar so I didn't wait for the bacon to brown before I threw in the sliced pears and pecans. Normally I would let the bacon and shallots brown before adding in the pears and pecans.

After this mixture browned (mainly the bacon) a bit, I added a sprinkling of brown sugar and then threw in a couple of handfuls of watercress after having washed and cut off the ends. The watercress cooks down very quickly so don't let it go limp when you stir it in to the hot pan. Serve immediately after cooking and sprinkle blue cheese on top while the mixture is still piping hot.

I really enjoyed this salad. I don't know if I even made the recipe correctly, lol. It has been awhile since I've eaten this salad and some of my papers with recipes are still in boxes after the late summer move. I didn't bother to search for the recipe tonight due to the hunger I was experiencing. You can see that my photos are blurred due to the shakiness I was experiencing from low blood sugar levels. My shakes subsided after eating (and "no" the salad wasn't too sweet as I did not add very much brown sugar to it).

Ingredients:

- sliced bacon (half package)
- diced (peeled) shallots (6-8)
- sliced pears (2)
- 8-10 pecans cut in half lengthwise
- couple tbsps. of brown sugar, or to taste
- couple handfuls of watercress rinsed and ends chopped off
- crumbled blue cheese for topping

Try the salad. I think you will love it as much as I do.
I will let you all know how my new regime goes. Keep me in your prayers.