Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Honey Mustard Dressing!

This is one of my mother's favorite salads, so I make it for her when I cook for special occasions like her birthday or holidays.  She used to always say she did not like spinach, which was odd for a woman who ate just about everything, but I made this salad years ago and once she ate it she changed her mind about spinach.  

I think spinach got a bad name from the days  when it was just creamed or cooked like other greens, but not seasoned well.  Personally, it's one of my favorite greens to cook with, because it's so flexible and can be used in so many ways.   I grow my own spinach for the limited window we have here in Kentucky that it can survive.  I love having it available when I want it. 

 

I will admit that the star of the show in this salad is the dressing though.   When I cook for holidays or for family, I am usually asked,  "Did you make the hot bacon dressing and the stuffed mushrooms?"  not what is the dessert or what is the main course, but the hot bacon dressing and the mushrooms...lol.  It's a family favorite and it's not hard to make at all.  

Here is what you will need for the salad and dressing:

   

1 bag baby spinach (10 oz.)

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup sliced green onions (including some of the green blades)

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced or rough chopped

1 cup shredded Parmesan or Swiss cheese

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

7-8 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled (divided)

 

Dressing

bacon drippings from frying the bacon

1 Tbs. minced garlic

2 Tbs. vinegar (white or apple cider, doesn't matter)

2 Tbs. sugar

2 Tbs. Dijon or spicy brown mustard

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. celery seed (optional)

dash of black pepper

dash of seasoned salt

1 Tbs. cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water

3 strips of the bacon crumbled into the dressing after it is thickened

 

 

Fry the bacon in a skillet and leave the drippings in the pan for the dressing.  If it's more than 2 Tbs. pour the extra off.

 

Layer the salad ingredients in the order given in a pretty glass salad bowl, finishing with 4-5 strips of the bacon, crumbled.

 

Saute the garlic in the bacon drippings just slightly, don't burn it or it will be bitter. Stir in the vinegar, sugar, mustard and the cornstarch dissolved in water.  Bring it up just to a bubble and add the honey, mayonnaise, celery seed, black pepper, and seasoned salt.  Whisk until smooth and don't boil, but just cook until it's thickened slightly. It thickens more once you take it off the heat and serve it.   Go light on the salt and pepper because it's already seasoned with the bacon drippings. Crumble the three reserved strips of bacon into the dressing.

 

Pour the dressing into a serving bowl just right before serving so that it remains warm and I let guests put their own on the salad to their taste.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Strawberry Spinach Salad with Praline Pecans!

I love spinach salads.  I had the idea for this salad several years ago, before so many served spinach salads with fruit and nuts.  I am not sure why I thought of it, maybe I saw something similar in the food magazines I constantly read, but I don't remember ever seeing this anyplace when I first started making it.

Now it seems everyone has some sort of spinach salad with fruit, especially in the spring.  It's just perfect for Easter dinner and I also serve it for Thanksgiving and Christmas sometimes.  I add the dried cranberries to it for those holidays and it's wonderful.

Here is what you need for this: 

1 bag baby spinach

1 bunch green onions

1 cup Parmesan cheese

2 cups sliced strawberries

5-6 slices bacon

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 stick butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbs. half and half

1 1/2 cups pecans

1/4 cup honey mustard dressing

1/4 cup poppy seed dressing
1/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)  I add them for holidays!!! 







Make the pralines first by melting 1/2 stick butter in a skillet with 1 cups brown sugar.  When melted add 1 tsp. vanilla and about a 1 Tbs half and half...2 if it seems too thick.

Cook this until it bubbles and stir constantly because it will stick.  It is also very hot so be careful.

Add pecans and stir to coat. Once coated spread on waxed paper or nonstick Reynold's Wrap.  These will need to sit and dry for about an hour. Once dry, break apart for your salad into smaller bites.

Next layer spinach, green onions sliced, Parmesan cheese, and sliced strawberries in a pretty salad bowl.

Cook the bacon until crisp and drain on paper towels, add bacon and then praline pecans to salad. Wait to dress the salad at the table or right before serving.  Use 1/4/ cup honey mustard and 1/4 cup poppy seed dressing.  The two flavors really complement each other and are perfect with the salad ingredients.  No need to even mix them.  Just add separately and then toss the salad.

This salad will make spinach lovers out of people who say they do not eat spinach!