Spinach salad has a lot to offer. Like spinach, in abundance. So much abundance that the spinach salad session can be exhausting. All that chasing the exuberant leaves around the plate. All that gnashing.
It’s enough to make the cook stare longingly at her skillet. She thinks fondly of spinach sauteed tender, or layered into spanakopita or creamed into submission.
She sighs. And remembers the rumor of a middle way, an approach neither cooked nor raw: wilted.
She’s willing to give compromise a try. Face to face with a mad tangle of fresh spinach, she sorts and soaks and spins. She turns the leaves loose in the salad bowl. They cavort. It must be all those micronutrients, those antioxidants.
Quietly, she slides over to the stove. She crisps bacon, sputters in balsamic, pivots and pours the sizzling sauce over the unsuspecting greens.
Silence.
She tosses, then tosses in contrast: cheese crumble, nut crunch. She stabs and smiles. The hot gloss has mellowed the leaves, leaving them tender, pliant and richly flavored.
Not to mention leaving them in the company of bacon and balsamic, good companions indeed.
Wilted spinach salad
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 8 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 bunch (8 ounces) spinach, washed, dried
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 pound bacon, sliced crosswise into strips
1 clove garlic
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/4 cup crumbled feta or firm goat cheese
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
Slice:
Stack up several spinach leaves, roll the long way into a log. Slice crosswise into 1/3-inch wide spinach strips. Repeat with remaining spinach.
Toss:
Heap spinach strips into a salad bowl. Season with salt, sugar and pepper. Toss. (Fingers work best here.)
Crisp:
Cook bacon strips and garlic clove (whole, peeled) in small, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until bacon turns crisp, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Discard garlic. Carefully add vinegar; mixture will sputter.
Wilt:
Immediately pour hot dressing over spinach. Toss to coat and slightly wilt spinach. Shower with egg, cheese and pine nuts. Toss. Enjoy warm.
Leah Eskin is a Tribune special contributor e-mail her at [email protected]
More Top Picks Best Weighted Blankets For Seniors