The Best Thing I Ate All Week: A Bacon and Egg Miso Bowl from Field & Social

Not to be all “I’m not like other girls,” but I usually skip the salad section of any menu entirely. It’s not that I hate vegetables, I’m just cheap and like to lie to myself.

I don’t order salads because I think I can make them at home for way less money. Why shell out the cash for something “easy” I can do myself (cut lettuce) when I can instead pay for something I can’t do (deep fry potatoes in large quantities)?

The problem, of course, is that even though I technically could make a great salad at home, I won’t. I won’t spend time caramelizing pecans, I won’t buy the right kind of cheese and my arugula will always go slimy before it sees a world beyond the crisper. Salads at my house are made from whatever is already in the fridge.

It’s a salad stigma I’m trying to get over, and this week I used the much-contested method of exposure therapy. I got a bacon and egg miso bowl from Field and Social Dunsmuir in between a furniture showroom opening and improv practice (yes, I moonlight as a loser).

Here’s a rundown of this beast, and how likely I would be to actually recreate each element myself:

1. Romaine and arugula. Easy enough. Can’t guarantee the arugula will be slime-free.

2. Orzo pasta. This isn’t currently in my cupboard, so I likely wouldn’t buy it.

3. Roasted yams. Easy to do, but too time-consuming for a single-portion salad. They also have to cool before can add them in.

4. Black pepper bacon. Same deal as the yams.

5. Miso dressing. I would probably buy this off the shelf, use it once, and forget about it for months.

6. A ramen egg. I actually don’t know how to cook an egg this perfect and I don’t want anyone to tell me. I believe in magic. 

All in all, this salad is a masterpiece. Sweet yams, extra-thick cuts of bacon, that magical ramen egg, and the little kick of orzo that keeps you full—it’s delicious. They nailed every taste and texture, putting any boring salad I could make to shame. It’s also quite large, and could definitely be split into two lunches (Did I do this? No! Did I regret it? Yes!).

Purposely buying—and enjoying—a $17 salad instead of any other fast food in the downtown area is some real character development for me. What’s next? Making my own optometrist appointments?

Bacon and Egg Miso Bowl from Field & Social
$16.90
fieldandsocial.com