gastronome: Spinach Salad with Apples, Bacon, and Honey Mustard Dressing

Spinach Salad with Apples, Bacon, and Honey Mustard Dressing

In honor of our first installment from the Bacon of the Month Club.

A salad perfectly paired with some real bacon. Beware: this is a Bacos-free zone.

For the dressing:

3 Tbl honey
2 Tbl prepared mustard (I used Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale & Honey Spice Mustard)
2 Tbl red vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
up to 1/4 cup oil

Whisk together first four ingredients - adjust the honey/mustard balance to taste. While whisking quickly, drizzle in the oil to the desired consistency. I like it kinda thick, with maybe just half of the oil.

For the salad:

10oz. baby spinach, rinsed & dried
1 Golden Delicious Apple, finely diced
4 oz. bacon, cooked crisp, drained, and crumbled
(optional) 1 avocado, sliced thinly

Toss spinach with dressing, then toss in apple & bacon & avocado.

Serves 6

Vegetarian variation: this works perfectly well without the bacon, too. You could leave it out, or replace it with something else salty like roasted walnuts.

Posted by patrick on October 17, 2004 | TrackBack

Comments

Greetings Patrick,

I find myself suddenly interested in scratch salad dressings. I'm also fond of the honey-mustard combination. I am even a fan of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. But I don't have any idea what you mean when you say in your ingredients: "2 Tbl prepared mustard (I used Sierra Nevada Pale Ale & Honey Spice)." Are you trying to tell me that Sierra Nevada makes *mustard* now?

Posted by: Mark on October 21, 2004 5:16 AM

Sierra Nevada does indeed make mustards that you should be able to find at your local fairly-well-stocked grocery... but I'm more interested in this artisan bacon. What kinds have you gotten so far, P?

Posted by: leekvs on October 25, 2004 1:16 PM

Mark: As she said! Sierra Nevada has branched out with a line of mustards, and they're pretty durned good if I do say so myself, and I do. I'll edit the recipe to specify as such.

Leek: Our first installment was a pound of bacon from a small family operation in Arizona. I'll see if I can dig up a link / backstory.

Posted by: patrick on October 25, 2004 3:24 PM

Patrick,

Thank you. I will look for Sierra Nevada mustards.

I, too, was interested in your artisan bacon and did a little Googling. I discovered that Lynne Rossetto Kasper did a segment on the Bacon-of-the-Month Club on her public radio show The Splendid Table back in 2000. It is not broadcast in my area, but I listen online. You can listen to the segment here:

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/gourmetguide/source_bacon.html

I would be interested in hearing more about your experiences with Grateful Palate and their bacon.

Posted by: Mark on October 27, 2004 1:25 PM