- Details
- Category: Past Issues
The first tender salad greens are soon to appear in the garden. If you don’t have a garden of your own, the local farmers’ market and farm stands will have an abundance, too. These new leaves are so well suited for a simple salad. The recipe below features a salad of baby spinach with a creamy bacon dressing. The dressing does contain raw eggs, and while this does not worry me (I don’t think I could ever pass up raw cookie batter!), I understand that you may be concerned about this. I have seen pasteurized eggs right next to the regular eggs at the Big Y. I don’t know if they are available elsewhere. You can also send an email if you like me to send you instructions to pasteurize your own eggs. Happy spring!
Spinach Salad
with Creamy Bacon Dressing
4 – 6 ozs bacon, diced ~ 1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs ~ 1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon cider vinegar ~ ½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper ~ ½ – 2/3 cup olive oil
1 lb. baby spinach ~ 4 hard-boiled eggs, cooled, peeled, quartered
4 ozs. sliced mushrooms ~ 1 cup grape tomatoes
1 very small, very thinly sliced red onion
Cook bacon until crisp. Over medium-low heat, add garlic and saute gently for 2 minutes – do not let garlic turn brown. Set aside.
In a blender, combine the eggs, dry mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper. With the blender running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream. Pour the dressing into a jar or a bowl, and add the bacon and garlic. (Dressing can also be made in a food processor.)
In a very large bowl, toss the spinach with the enough dressing to coat the spinach as to your preference. Divide the spinach among four to six plates or bowls. Top each serving with the eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, and onion. Top each with a little more dressing and black pepper if desired.