I have wanted to make the dressing forever, but have never really gotten around to it…until tonight. After all the heavy eating this weekend, I wanted a lighter meal. My sister Emily left half a bag of Spinach in my refrigerator and a bag of Cuties. A citrus salad sounded nice, but that left me needing protein. And a dressing. I decided a hot bacon mustard vinaigrette would be a great dressing, but not so great with the citrus (or it could be, I’ll experiment sometime.)
While bacon is delicious, a food group unto itself in the opinion of many, it is not a good primary protein for me to eat for dinner. Enter the egg. A fried egg can make everything better, always. Xavier raised a skeptical eyebrow at me when I mentioned the egg to him. But his cleaned plate signified to me that he enjoyed it. Although in hindsight, I wish I made two eggs for his salad as he confessed he ate cookies for lunch.
The dressing is very tangy, as it is a vinaigrette, but if you want to turn the tang down, omit the white wine and add a bit more brown sugar. I love tangy, so for me it was perfect. I only made a single egg for both Xavier and myself, but that’s a personal call, if you want two eggs, make two, want four, make four. You can’t go wrong in anyway
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 10 pieces of bacon
- 1 medium shallot; minced
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp white wine
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
- 11/4 tbsp brown sugar; +/- to taste
- Salt/pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp bacon fat
Salad
- 4-8 eggs; fried
- 1/2 red onion; thinly sliced
- Bag/head/bunch of spinach
Instructions
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In a pan, cook the bacon.
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Once the bacon is crispy, remove it from the pan and allow to cool on paper towels, absorbing any excess fat.
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Once cooled, crumble the bacon into tiny pieces.
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While the bacon is cooling, remove all but 2 tbsp of fat from the pan.
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Sauté the shallots over a medium-high heat in the remaining bacon fat for about two minutes or until they become very aromatic.
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Reduce the heat to medium and add in all the remaining ingredients except the bacon. Mix well.
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Be careful to not over salt, as the bacon will add more salt to the dressing.
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Once the dressing has been well blended, add the crumbled bacon in, mix well, and set aside.
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Assemble the bowls with the spinach, add the red onions and dressing. Set aside.
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Fry the desired amount of eggs that have been seasoned with salt and pepper.
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Place the egg (s) on top of the spinach and serve.
11 Comments
Marlys (This and That)
June 3, 2014 at 4:53 pmThis sounds so good Michelle. Thanks for dropping it off on my page. Pinning it so that I have the recipe.
Kaitie @ Fuchsia Freezer
July 15, 2015 at 8:07 amThis sounds amazing, and easy to make. This will be happening for dinner one night next week for sure! I can already taste the bacon! mmmmmm
Michelle
July 16, 2015 at 1:11 amHope you enjoy it Kaitie.
Sara
July 15, 2015 at 12:14 pmThis sounds amazing, I love a good spinach salad and I totally prefer your fried egg to the hard boiled eggs I usually see!
Michelle
July 16, 2015 at 1:14 amThe fried egg makes is silky. Hope you enjoy it Sara.
Joy @ Joy Love Food
July 15, 2015 at 6:12 pmI love spinach salads and this one sounds divine with the hot bacon vinaigrette! And isn’t just about everything better with a fried egg on top? Yum!
Michelle
July 16, 2015 at 1:15 amThank you Joy, yes, a fried egg makes everything better.
Lauren @ Wicked Spatula
July 15, 2015 at 7:04 pmThat dressing sounds so so good!
Michelle
July 16, 2015 at 1:15 amIt really is good.
Kimberly Ann @ Bake Love Give
July 15, 2015 at 9:30 pmI spend a lot of time in Long Island for work and one of my favorite meals is to pop into one of the local NY delis for a spinach and bacon salad. I’m definitely going to have to give your version a try!
Michelle
July 16, 2015 at 1:16 amThanks Kimberly Ann, I hope you enjoy it.