Bacon doesn’t usually make me think of high school English class. It makes me hungry. But I do understand Nick’s concern about what it would be like to eat bacon as a main dish over and over again—there’s nothing I eat that frequently. I like to use bacon in small amounts, to add a little flavor to other dishes. Especially during the summer, when we are eating lots of fresh, local greens from our CSA share, bacon is a staple in our house.

I usually only use 2 or 3 slices of bacon per meal when I’m adding it to dishes based on greens, and at $4.81 for a 12-ounce package (about 12 slices) of Beeler’s All-Natural Bacon, it’s an inexpensive way to add a lot of flavor to a dinner.

All of the different Beeler’s pork products available at the Co-op come from several different family farms in Iowa, where the pigs are raised in open, airy barns with deep bedding and access to the outdoors (rather than in tiny pens as conventional pigs are raised). The meat is All-Natural, meaning animals are fed a strictly vegetarian diet, and are never given antibiotics or growth hormones. Beeler’s ham and bacon products are ‘uncured,’ which means they contain no added nitrates or nitrites.

I realized, in preparing to write this article, that I knew generally that nitrites were bad, but I didn’t know exactly why. So here’s the scoop, as I have come to understand it: nitrates are naturally-occurring chemical compounds found in many vegetables that are a by-product of the breakdown of nitrogen during photosynthesis. When added to meat, nitrates react with amines in the meat and turn into nitrites, which then form carcinogenic compounds. Or something like that—ask a scientist if you’d like to know more about the process. These days, usually the synthetic chemicals sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite are used for curing meats, but they also form the carcinogenic compounds. A study by the Cancer Prevention Coalition showed that children who eat 12 or more nitrite-containing hot dogs per month have a nine times greater chance of developing leukemia, and that babies born to mothers who ate hot dogs at least once a week while pregnant are twice as likely to develop brain tumors.

Nitrates and nitrites were originally used in meat-curing to protect against botulism, but advances in refrigeration have made meat much safer in that respect, and they are now mainly used because of the color they add to meat. So it’s not a tough decision to make—do you want meat with a cancer-causing, color-enhancing chemical added, or meat that’s a little less red, and without the carcinogens?

The Co-op carries two varieties of Beeler’s bacon in the refrigerated meat case adjacent to the meat counter: Apple-Cinnamon and Pepper. And while with conventional bacon you might just expect them both to taste salty, the Beeler’s products have wildly different tastes. The Apple-Cinnamon bacon is very sweet, quite cinnamon-ey, and not at all salty. The Pepper bacon is a little salty (but not overpoweringly so), and very, um, peppery. Both also have good pork flavor, and lots of fat to add flavor to whatever you put them in. My favorites are frittata, spinach salad or a simple BLT (later in the season, of course, once the tomatoes ripen).

Frittata with Seasonal Greens and Bacon (serves 4-6)
(If you’ve never made frittata before, it’s very easy—make this a couple of times, and then start experimenting with your own additions)
1 large bunch greens (e.g., chard, kale, spinach, broccoli raab, or a mixture)
½ onion, thinly sliced (substitute green onions in season)
2 slices bacon, diced
10-12 eggs
leftover cooked potato, cut in small cubes (optional, but yummy!)
¼ - ½ cup shredded or crumbled cheese (goat cheese is wonderful, but so is cheddar—use what you have on hand)
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of liberally salted water to a boil. While the water is boiling, wash and trim greens, and chop coarsely. Cook the greens until tender and drain, squeezing out excess water.

Cook the bacon and onion in a 10- or 12-inch (depending on how many eggs you’re using) oven-proof skillet over a medium-low heat until bacon is crispy and onions are starting to caramelize. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler, then crack all the eggs into a large bowl and beat lightly. Season the eggs with salt and pepper, then add cooked greens and potatoes, if using, and mix well.

When the bacon is cooked, poor off a little fat if it seems like there’s too much in the pan (but keep in mind that the more fat in the pan, the easier the frittata will come out, and hence less scrubbing later). Pour the egg mixture over the bacon and onions and continue cooking over medium-low heat until the sides of the frittata start to brown and there is only a small layer of uncooked egg on the top. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the frittata, and transfer to the oven. Cook frittata under the broiler until eggs are puffed and set, and cheese is browned, about 2-5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing (serves 4)
1 large bunch spinach, washed and trimmed
4 slices bacon
¼ cup cider or other vinegar
2 t yellow mustard seeds
2 t minced parsley (or other fresh herbs)
1 t sugar
2 or 3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels, reserving 2 T fat in the skillet. Crumble the bacon and set aside. Combine vinegar, mustard seeds, herbs and sugar in the skillet with the bacon fat, and heat until just before it boils. Toss spinach with warm dressing, garnish with crumbled bacon and hard-boiled eggs and serve immediately.

Alice is very glad that her tomato plants survived the June snowfall, and is eagerly anticipating a nice BLT in August.