If you think bacon goes great with eggs, you’re right — but its salty, rich flavor is a great addition to lots of other dishes as well. For many cooks, it’s an essential ingredient, right up there with salt and pepper.

Bacon comes in several forms that you can put to work in your recipes:

• Bacon is cured and smoked meat taken from a pig’s flank. Sliced bacon has been trimmed of the rind (the natural outer covering), sliced thinly or thickly, and packaged.
• Canadian bacon is leaner than regular bacon and is precooked, so there’s less shrinkage. You can fry, bake or barbecue it, or use it straight from the package in sandwiches and salads.
• Bacon bits are crisp pieces of bacon that have been preserved and dried. Store them in the refrigerator
• Turkey bacon is produced from smoked turkey, and is lower in calories and saturated fat than pork bacon

Try these ideas for using bacon as a flavor-enhancer:

• Add it in beef stews, meat loaf and baked beans
• Try variations on the basic bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich — like bacon, avocado and sliced cheese; or bacon, sliced apple and blue cheese
• Wrap it around vegetables or fruits and bake for crisp and flavorful hors d’oeuvres
• Crumble it over salads, deviled eggs, baked potatoes or other vegetables
• Sprinkle crumbled bacon over casseroles
• Add crumbled bacon to muffin, biscuit or cornbread batter

Bacon can change a recipe in subtle and flavorful ways – try adding just a little the next time you cook your favorite dish, and see what new tastes you discover.