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Wilted Spinach Salad
Posted By Chris On 1/24/13 @ 3:47 pm In Eggs,Salads | 3 Comments
My New Year’s resolution was to stop procrastinating.
I’ve been putting it off for almost a month.
I’ve always been a procrastinator. It’s kinda my thing. To be clear, though, it’s not that I don’t care about whatever it is that I’m supposed to be working on, it’s just that I’m easily distracted. Always have been. It’s rare that I can focus on more than one thing at a time. I don’t know how the rest of you do it.
Personal projects, especially – like, say, a food blog – can be a real hell if I don’t stay on top of them.
I haven’t forgotten about this little blog, or the people (mostly family members) who care enough about reading it to remind me that I’ve been a lazy fool this past month. Not to worry – I realize that more than anyone! I’m back now, though (from nothing, in particular, just back) and I’m ready to start cooking again (figuratively and literally).
To start things off in this not-so-New-Year, I decided to make a wilted spinach salad. I’m a fan of pretty much anything one can place a fried egg atop, and a spinach salad is no different. The best part here is that the egg makes up a good portion of this salad’s “dressing” once everything gets tossed together. Mixed with the vinaigrette made from the rendered bacon fat and balsamic, the warm yolk makes this simple salad something special. A perfect, little, warm salad for a cozy January evening. Enjoy.
Wilted Spinach Salad
Serves 4
Adapted from Michael Symon
- 1 small glug olive oil
- 4-6 strips of bacon, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 shallot, peeled and sliced
- 2 handfuls cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced (or button mushrooms, if you can’t find cremini)
- 1/2 cup vegetable stock
- 4-5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 egg
- 8-10 cups loosely packed baby spinach
- salt & pepper
- In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium-hight heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy ~5-8 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan. Reserve about a tablespoon of the rendered bacon fat, leaving the rest in the pan.
- Add the mushrooms to the pan, and cook until just soft ~3 minutes. Add the shallots and cook for another couple minutes. Add the stock, season well with salt & pepper, mix to combine, and bring the liquid to a boil while scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the crispy bits. Reduce the liquid by half.
- Add the balsamic vinegar, bring to a simmer, and then remove from the heat. Taste the vinaigrette and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
- In a second saute pan, fry the egg: heat the reserved bacon fat over medium heat, add the egg and cook, sunny-side up, until the whites are cooked but the yolk is still runny.
- In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the mushroom mixture. Toss to wilt the spinach.
- To serve, top the salad with the fried egg. Break the yolk into the salad as you toss. Serve family style, allowing everyone to take a bit of the egg as they serve themselves.
My new jam:
Recipe from:http://sandwichsunday.com/eggs/wilted-spinach-salad/