Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette
This spinach salad with warm bacon vinaigrette has it all. The warmed homemade sweet bacon vinaigrette coats every piece of fresh spinach. Then it is topped with more bacon, feta, walnuts, and shallots. It is the perfect balance of healthy and tasty.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Spinach Salad
- 4 Slices of Bacon
- 4 cups Fresh Spinach
- ½ cup Cherry Tomatoes (or 1 whole tomato)
- ⅓ cup Toasted Walnuts
- 1 Shallot
- ⅓ cup Crumbled Feta
Sweet Bacon Vinaigrette
- 2 tbsp Reserved Bacon Fat
- 3 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Thyme fresh or dried
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Pepper
Instructions
- Cook your bacon by your preferred method. You can bake the bacon on a foiled lined baking sheet at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Drain your bacon on a paper towel and reserve the bacon fat.
- Prepare your veggies and nuts. Thinly slice the shallots and cut tomatoes. Chop bacon into bits. Toast the walnuts if they are raw.
- Prepare the vinaigrette, add warmed bacon fat (you can warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds if your fat has solidified), lemon juice, red wine vinegar, honey, thyme, salt and pepper to a bowl or a mason jar with a lid. Mix well. Add in the olive oil and mix well or shake the jar.
- Assemble your salad. Toss the fresh spinach with the dressing (add a little bit at a time, you can always add more) Add the bacon bits, shallots, tomato, toasted walnuts, and feta cheese to the salad and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
Feel free to use any salad toppings you like; this salad is very customizable. If you are using a soft green like arugula, or a spring mix, I would suggest letting the dressing cool slightly, before adding it to the lettuce to prevent wilting, spinach is very hardy and can withstand the warmed vinaigrette.