Fall was a time for a warm spinach salad. Now that the weather is improving a bit, I got a hankering* for a cool version of that salad. This has the same bacon balsamic dressing and red onions, but the rest goes a different direction.
* I believe that’s the first time I’ve ever used the word “hankering“.
Ingredients
large bunch of spinach
1 pound thick cut bacon
1/4 large red onion
mandarin oranges
– or –
strawberries
dressing
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons coarse ground dijon mustard
Directions
Chop the bacon into half-inch pieces and place in a pan over medium heat.
Every now and then give the bacon a stir to make sure it isn’t sticking, and give all the pieces some time on the bottom to brown up.
While the bacon is cooking, prep the spinach. I avoid baby spinach, because it’s really not ripe yet. The leaves are less tender and less sweet. They’re easier to use, though, since the stems are softer.
With mature spinach, you have to peel the stems. Fold the leaf in half away from the stem with one hand, and peel the stem off with the other hand.
Unless you get hydroponic spinach — grown in water instead of soil — you’re going to have to rinse it. Use extremely cold water, and the spinach will actually get crisper while you rinse it. Just fill the sink and slosh the leaves around vigorously with your hands to get all the soil off.
This next step requires me to admit once again that my wife bought something for the kitchen that I didn’t want to like, but I do. I thought salad spinners
Nope, I got that one wrong. These things are awesome. Toss the wet leaves in, pump the top a few times …
… and out comes nice dry spinach. Get yourself a spinner. (Unless you don’t eat salad. But then you wouldn’t still be reading down this far.)
For salads I like long skinny wedges of onion better than rings. (I don’t know why. If you have an idea, tell me your theory down in the comments.) Cut the stem end off then split it in half.
Standing the onion on the stem end, slice thin wedges off, starting at the ends and working toward the middle.
When you’re done prepping the spinach and onion, the bacon should be done. Scoop it out using tongs or a slotted spoon, making sure to leave most of the rendered fat in the pan.
Pour the fat out into a bowl large enough to hold at least three times what you’ve got.
Deglaze the pan. While it is still hot, add enough of the balsamic vinegar to coat the bottom. As the vinegar bubbles up, use a wooden spoon or a flat whisk to scrape all the brown bits up and stir them into the vinegar.
Whisk the vinegar together with the bacon fat.
Add the honey and whisk together.
Finally whisk in the mustard.
Clear a space where you can set all the ingredients out together. If you have as much counter space as I do, you know why “clear space” rates its own step.
On top of a handful of spinach, add the onions and oranges (or strawberries) and bacon.
Add dressing.
And that’s it.
9 Comments
I have nothing earth shattering to contribute on this one EXCEPT that you are so right on the salad spinner! Folks, if you don’t have one and eat salad (ever), go out right now and get one. They are well worth the $30! Thanks for the great salad recipe
I think you like the small wedges of onion because it’s easier to put the whole thing in your mouth, instead of looking like you’re chewing on your wife’s earring.
Now, I’m off to buy a salad spinner.
Salad spinners are the grooviest, and not the least bit a unitasker because it is a physics lesson. This salad is delightful looking! Can’t wait to have it with my fresh strawberries. (Reminds me that I need to order red onion plants.) But until then the oranges look luscious.
Bridgett, if it didn’t cost so much I’d let the girls use it for craft projects. Spin art would rule.
Ajra, that actually sounds pretty reasonable.
Lanny, if I lived in a more temperate climate I’d eat way more salad than I do. Really wish I could grow oranges.
This one has my family singing your praises, Drew. The dressing was delicious–I was skeptical about the bacon fat, but it was so good! I let mine sit for a couple of minutes (less than five) after I dressed it, so the spinach absorbed some of the vinegar. It made it a whole lot smoother and it was soooooo tasty. I used strawberries because my husband isn’t a big citrus fan, and I threw in a handful of sliced “baby bella” mushrooms with the bacon when it was almost done cooking (just long enough for them to soften) and that was really great as well. Thanks for yet another excellent recipe
Tamara, we’ve all been told our whole lives to be afraid of fat. So yeah, this can look kind of freaky the first time you do it. Like, “Are you sure? Really? All of it?” Now that you’re on friendly terms with the bacon fat, it’s time to try the pasta carbonara.
Too funny, I almost made that tonight. I opted for pasta primavera instead, but carbonara is so my next project. Bacon, eggs, and pasta? Um, yes please!
Just stumbled on to your site today. Pretty cool. Love the step by step instructions and pictures. Two questions though: 1) when you say deglaze the pan, is that what you call adding the vinegar to the pan and scraping up the brown bits? 2)You mentioned adding enough vinegar to cover the bottom of the pan 2a) would this be the full cup or 2b) do you add the rest of the vinegar later (if yes, when)? This recipe reminds me of a shrimp and spinach salad that I order from Applebee’s that has a hot bacon vinegrette dressing. It was so good that I wished I knew how they made the dressing. Now I think I know… Can’t wait to try it. Oh, they also add almonds to theirs – can’t go wrong with almonds in my opinion. Thanks for sharing. (don’t have a google/blogger ID so I chose ananymous. My name is Tina.)
Tina, yes deglazing is when you scrape up the “fond” … French term for “the stuff that got stuck to the pan when you cooked the meat”. I use as much of the vinegar as I need to deglaze the pan, then just add the rest in to the bowl with the dressing. Balsamic vinegar is pretty high in sugar, so you don’t want to use too much more than you need in the hot pan or it can start to caramelize. And that’s way harder to clean up.