We eat salad frequently here at the Greene House, especially during summer when it can get just too darn hot to fire up the oven or stand over a stove. And I generally like to keep our salads very lean. But, every once in a while, a special occasion calls for a special salad — regardless of of its calorie count.
I found this recipe last year on Closet Cooking, one of my favorite blogs. But, it’s too high in fat and Points value for me to make it very often. While I would be content to call a single serving (9 PointsPlus) an entire meal, I know my Hubby well enough to realize that — despite bacon — this is simply a side salad for him that requires accompaniment with some additional meat or fish. So, I decided to save this recipe just special occasions.
I first made this dish last December, when we hosted an elegant holiday dinner party for our good friends Kim and Barry from the Rustic Garden Bistro, pairing it with a Christmas goose, wild rice stuffing, sauteed brussel sprouts, potato leek soup and baked brie. I last made it in February, when I treated Hubby to a romantic intimate Valentine’s dinner of scallops gratin for two (he did the cooking last year). For the Christmas dinner party, I was able to stretch it into four small first course servings, for Valentine’s dinner I split it into just two heartier servings. And now, I’m just waiting for that next special occasion.
- 4 slices bacon (cut into 1 inch slices)
- 1 cup red onion (sliced)
- 4 ounces mushrooms (sliced)
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 small clove garlic (grated)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 ounces baby spinach
- ¼ cup mild blue cheese (crumbled)
- Cook the bacon in a pan and set aside reserving 2 tablespoons of bacon grease.
- Caramelize the onions in the remaining bacon grease and set aside, then caramelize the mushrooms in the remaining bacon grease and set aside.
- Add the vinegar to the pan and deglaze it.
- Add the reserved bacon grease, sugar, mustard, garlic and season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
- Assemble salad, toss with dressing, and serve immediately.
That salad was delicious – my favorite part was the caramelized onions. Thank you for doing the WW math so the rest of us don’t have to.
[K]
They made this salad at one of our local restaurants and I loved it! They took it off the menu so I made it myself tonight with grilled steaks…delish!! Even my meat and potatoes cowboy was impressed and ate every bite!!