Apple Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
This is a take on a 70’s classic warm spinach salad - It’s easy, quick and oh so tasty and goes well with a bowl of soup,pasta or grilled steak.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
For the bacon maple vinaigrette:
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil or canola oil
- ¼ pound thick-cut bacon cut into lardons ¼ inch pieces of bacon
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup optional
For the salad:
- 4 ounces baby spinach thick stems removed
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 1 apple cored and thinly sliced into half-moons
- 2 sprigs parsley picked and finely chopped
- Fine sea salt
Instructions
For the maple bacon dressing:
- Grab a sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-low heat, add the bacon, cooking until it begins to crisp and the bacon is halfway done, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in shallots. Using a whisk stir in the shallot and mustard into the bacon pan. Add the vinegar and maple syrup, stirring vigorously. Immediately remove from the heat. Leave the dressing in the pan until you are ready to toss the salad.
Assemble the salad.
- In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, shallot, apple and parsley. If your bacon vinaigrette has cooled, gently warm over low heat. Drizzle over the spinach. Season with salt and gently toss.
Notes
To Store leftover dressing: Transfer the warm bacon dressing to a heat proof jar with a tight fitting lid and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It is best warmed before serving. You can do this by putting the jar in a pan with hot tap water and swirling from time to time or by removing the lid and heating at 50% power in the microwave in 20 second bursts until heated through.
See the Leftover Tips section of the post for ideas on salad add-ins to make a whole new salad.