Chef Isaac Toups may be best known for rich, slow-cooked cuts like confit chicken thighs and tender lamb neck (two menu highlights at Toups Meatery in New Orleans’ Mid-City neighborhood), but vegetables often star in the dishes he makes at home. At work and or in his own kitchen, his cooking reflects his deep South Louisiana roots and love of big, layered flavors—including the smoky richness of bacon. “Want to make your vegetables taste better and have your friends love you?” Toups says. “Char the hell out of some on the grill and then toss them in a bacon vinaigrette.”
This dish, a personal favorite not served at the restaurant, proves that the garden isn’t just for rabbit food. “These are vegetables so unhealthy a Cajun might actually eat them,” Toups jokes. He recommends using whatever’s fresh and in season—zucchini, eggplant, green beans, radicchio—and grilling them hot and fast. The key is high heat: “They should be really crispy and charred, not all wimpy and overcooked.”
What takes the dish over the top is a warm vinaigrette spiked with anchovies, garlic, and rendered bacon fat. “This is never going to be a fully emulsified vinaigrette, so don’t fret if it looks like it’s breaking,” Toups advises. Toss the grilled vegetables in the vinaigrette, top with crumbled bacon, and serve. Backyard cookouts may never be the same.
