Super Spinach Salad with Bacon & Eggs

Smokey, crispy, salty.  Those three words describe one of my favorite foods: bacon.   Served for breakfast alongside poached or fried eggs, stacked on your favorite bread with a big slice of tomato or crumbled over your favorite mac & cheese recipe, it is divine.  A few pieces of crumbled bacon will turn any salad into a scrumptious salad.  I adapted this  recipe found on Epicurious by making a few adjustments to the dressing as well as the salad ingredients.  The 1/4 cup brown sugar made the dressing too sweet and the 1/2 onion was overpowering.  Cutting back these two ingredients as well as adding less oil made a perfectly balanced dressing with a hint of sweetness and tartness from the red wine vinegar.  The dressing is also very good served on iceberg lettuce wedges, with crumbled bacon, of course.

I found a very good applewood smoked bacon at Costco.  It comes in a double packet each weighing 2 pounds. Four pounds is a lot of bacon, especially if you are only cooking for two, however, it’s just too good a deal to pass up.  I wrap up portions and freeze them to use later.

Super Spinach Salad with Bacon & Eggs ~ Serves 6

Adapted from Epicurious

Dressing

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 teaspoon Dijon

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (Coleman’s)

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil

Puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth and emulsified.  I use my immersion blender. It works well for small recipes and clean up is quick.  Refrigerate dressing until you are ready to serve the salad.

Salad

8 ounces baby spinach, washed and dried

5 ounces white mushrooms, sliced very thin

thinly sliced Maui or sweet onion – as much as you like

4 thick slices bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled

2 large eggs, hardboiled and chopped

2 tablespoons dry roasted sunflower seeds (optional)

2 tablespoons slivered roasted almonds

Layer salad beginning with spinach followed by mushrooms, onions, bacon, eggs, sunflower seeds if using and almonds.  Drizzle a generous amount of dressing over the salad and toss to coat well.  Serve immediately.