Who knew that a single post on Facebook would generate such interest in my favorite Spinach and Bacon Salad! I’ve made this recipe for years. When my children were young, we would make this together – one would tear up the spinach, the other would boil and chop the eggs, I would chop the scallions (nobody else wanted that job) and the third child would mix all the sauce ingredients. Because this is such an easy recipe, you can make it anytime for quick main meal.
To start, I take off the stems of the spinach, then tear into bite sized pieces if using larger spinach leaves; this is not necessary with baby spinach. Then use a salad spinner to rinse and spin out the excess water. If I am not making the salad that day, I store the washed and spun spinach in the salad spinner overnight in the refrigerator. The air gap between the bowl and the colander keeps the spinach fresh and crisp.
You can make the dressing in the bowl with the spinach but I prefer to make it separately and top the salad fixings with the mixture. Adjust proportions to taste. It shouldn’t taste too “mayonaisse-y” but have a slight tang with the lemon juice balancing out the bacon fat.
Tip: Cooking bacon in a skillet or on a griddle until it’s crispy can create nitrosamines, compounds that have been found to cause cancer in test animals. Microwaving your bacon, however, creates far fewer of these chemicals, says the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. Plus there’s a bonus: Less mess. Sandwich bacon slices between a few paper towels to catch any spatter and zap for about one minute per slice. Your bacon will be healthier and there’s no greasy pan to clean. In my kitchen, I cook six slices of bacon to crispy in about eight minutes; your results may vary depending on your microwave’s power.
- 1 to 1.5 pounds of organic spinach, stemmed, washed, and drained
- ½ pound uncured bacon (reserve fat)
- 4 hard-cooked eggs, roughly chopped
- 4 scallions with greens, chopped
- 1 lemon, juiced (remove seeds)
- 2 teaspoons mustard (use any kind you like, I prefer a grainy, hearty mustard)
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Tear spinach into bite-sized pieces, place in salad bowl.
- Cook bacon until crisp, drain but reserve fat. (I cook the bacon in the microwave just until crisp.)
- Chop bacon and crumble over spinach.
- Add chopped eggs and scallions.
- Pour dressing over salad, toss and serve.
- Combine mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of the bacon fat till blended. Salt and pepper to taste.
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