Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Spinach Salad for Two

Spinach salad, with warm bacon-balsamic dressing. Fresh, simple, colorful, and an excuse to play with my new Canon EOS Rebel T1i DSLR.

Organic, pre-washed, baby spinach

Applewood smoked bacon

Roma tomatoes

Thinly sliced mushrooms


Ciabatta roll, sliced, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with Parmigiano-Reggiano and lightly toasted

Soft-boiled egg

Spinach Salad
Saveur, #12
Serves 4-6

2 lbs. fresh spinach
6 slices bacon
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
4 large white mushrooms, sliced
2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and diced
Freshly ground black pepper

(To modify for two, I used 5 oz. fresh spinach, 2 slices bacon, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, 4-5 mushrooms, 2 soft-boiled eggs, and 1 Roma tomato)

1. Trim spinach of thick stems and wilted or yellowed leaves and wash thoroughly. Pat dry with paper towels or dry in a salad spinner.

2. Fry bacon in a heavy skillet over medium heat until golden brown and crisp, about 15 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towels to let drain.

3. To make the dressing, strain bacon fat through a sieve, wipe out skillet with paper towels, and return fat to skillet. Add brown sugar to fat, stir over low heat until dissolved, then add up to 1 tbsp. of the vinegar and stir well.

4. Put spinach, mushrooms, and eggs into a salad bowl. Crumble bacon on top, then pour warm dressing over the salad. (Dressing should not be quite hot enough to wilt spinach.) Toss a few times to coat spinach leaves evenly. Season to taste with pepper.

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