something that doesn't show through on the internet is my chicago accent. i have been told that it's very strong. i won't admit that it's strong, but after hearing myself talk on video a few months ago, i'll admit that an accent indeed exists.

no one growing up ever thinks that they have an accent, right?

chicagoans don't have accents right? (lol!)

i was first informed of my accent towards the end of high school when i started spending my summers on the east coast, at tanglewood. it was the first time in my life that a majority of my time was spent with people who weren't from chicago, and suddenly i was *different*. i couldn't say "practice" or "alex" or any word with an "a" without being giggled at! and what really gave my chicagoness away was my pronunciation of "salad." i could not order an effing salad without a percussionist saying "syaaaaaalad? do you want a seeeyaaaaalad? what's a seeeyalad anyway???"

so i stopped eating salad altogether.

i stopped using the letter "a" altogether.

i stopped talking altogether. 

i mean, no, i didn't actually do that, but i still can't order a salad without holding my breath for a moment and waiting for someone to mock me.

so, here's a salad that's worth every unit of mockery on the east coast. an eggs benedict salad that's basically all of the great eggs benedict ingredients, tossed with fresh greens: soft cooked eggs, warm canadian bacon, a hollandaise drizzle that's got a nice bit of dill, and the best part, english muffin croutons. here, i've used homemade english muffins from the huckleberry cookbook because they are the absolute best english muffins in the world, but if you want to use another english muffin, go ahead.

eggs benedict salad with dill hollandaise dressing

makes 4 servings

ingredients

2 thick english muffins, chopped into cubes

6 slices canadian bacon

4 large eggs

8 oz mixed greens

1/4 purple onion, thinly sliced

kosher salt and black pepper

hollandaise dressing:

1 large egg yolk

1/4 c unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 c olive oil

1 sprig fresh dill, chopped

kosher salt and black pepper

clues

make the croutons: spread the english muffin cubes out on a baking sheet and bake them at 400 for about 15 minutes or so, until they reach your desired crispiness. i like em still a little soft.

cook the bacon: brown it on both sides over medium high heat, and then chop it into 1/2-inch pieces.

boil the eggs: bring a large pot of water to a boil, carefully add the eggs, and cook for 7 minutes. transfer them to an ice bath, peal them, and then slice them in half. 

place the greens, onions, croutons, bacon, and eggs on a serving platter. sprinkle everything with salt and fresh pepper. 

to make the dressing, add the egg yolk to a food processor or blender. blend the yolk, and then gradually drizzle in the butter, lemon juice, and olive oil, and then add the dill. season with salt and pepper to taste.

dress the salad to your liking and enjoy!

-yeh!

thank you to the american egg board for sponsoring this post! america’s egg farmers launched the good egg project to educate americans about where eggs come from and encourage people to eat well and do good every day. check out the good egg project site to learn about hen nutrition, environmental improvements that have been made by egg producers in the past few decades, and to see a slide show illustrating the steps that eggs go through to get to the grocery store.