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Spinach: Bacon Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Source: Found on Pinterest

This salad is best served, assembled immediately, before serving
This is an easy and impressive salad!

Ingredients

  • 10 oz. baby spinach, washed and dried
  • 5 slices center-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
  • button mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Warm Bacon Dressing

  • 1 Tbls. warm bacon grease, reserved from cooked bacon
  • 2 Tbls. apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbls. Dijon mustard
  • 1 Tbls. maple syrup
  • ½ t. cracked pepper

Instructions

Prepare hard-boiled eggs according to the directions below. While the eggs are cooking, place the sliced red onion in a small bowl and cover with cold water and allow to soak while the remainder of the salad is being prepared.

Hard-Boiled Eggs: Place eggs in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Turn off burner, cover saucepan and let stand 20 minutes. Uncover, pour out hot water and fill pan with cool to warm water. Immediately crack eggs and peel off the shells under the water in the pan or under running water from the tap (makes it easier to peel the eggs, shell comes right off).

Prepare Bacon: Heat a medium frying pan over low-medium heat (a lower heat helps to reduce grease splatters and cooks the bacon more evenly). Place the bacon in the pan and pan-fry for 3-4 minutes per side, or until bacon is crispy. Remove bacon from the frying pan and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve 1 tablespoon bacon grease for the dressing.

Dressing: Whisk together the warm bacon grease, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and pepper together. Taste and add salt if needed. Be sure your dressing is slightly warm when tossing with the salad. If making ahead of time, warm slightly in the microwave

To Prepare Salad:

Drain off water from red onions, slice the hard-boiled eggs, and crumble the bacon into bite-size pieces.

Toss the spinach with the bacon, onions and eggs (also mushrooms, if using). Toss with the warm dressing and serve immediately. If desired, garnish with fresh ground pepper.

NOTE: Serves 6