A classic spinach, bacon combination with a wonderful new lemony twist for the dressing. A winner! Donna brought this to a ladies lunch and was generous enough to share the recipe
Spinach needs cool weather to grow so it is most available fresh from September through November and again in the spring from March through May. You can store it in the refrigerator for up to a week. Spinach is a powerhouse for nutrition. One serving provides almost half the daily requirement of Vitamins A, B (folates), and C, and a quarter of the iron needed, plus a significant amount of minerals and other nutritional elements. (Minimal carbs, too!) Donna used a 1 pound package to serve a group and dressed the entire salad before serving. I adapted by using a 12 oz package and still had two meals with servings for three each time. I only dressed the half salad we would eat immediately so the leaves of the remaining half stayed crisp for the next meal. Choose young or baby spinach leaves for this recipe to allow the flavor of the dressing to shine.
Did you know that bacon is now available in lower fat and lower sodium varieties? I ran across a lower fat and sodium Smithfield bacon a while back and thought it was a good idea. When I bought the bacon to make this salad at home, I was surprised to see that almost every brand, including the store brand, had a lower fat and/or lower sodium bacon! Bacon made healthier — yummmmm. I usually brown half a package of bacon at a time in the microwave, using a bacon crisper and checking progress every 2-3 minutes. But this time I had the oven on for something else so I spread the whole package of bacon in a jelly roll pan and slipped it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes at 350 where it crisped perfectly with no attention until a peek or two for browning in the last 5 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 package baby spinach
- 3 hard cooked eggs
- 8 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled
- 6 green onions (Donna said she used ¼ cup diced Vidalia instead)
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup cider vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice (I used lemon crystals)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Dash of pepper
- 1 clove garlic (I used 1 tsp minced garlic from a jar)
Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients in jar and shake well. Set aside for flavors to meld.
- Lightly toss spinach with egg, bacon and onion. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours
- To serve, shake dressing vigorously and pour over salad until spinach is well coated
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[...] Spinach Salad with lemon garlic dressing - 12 calories [...]