Warm Spinach Salad

I love the days when Jim plays hooky for the afternoon when I have a day off. That gives me time to put a bit of extra effort into lunch, instead of our typical salads and leftovers that we pack for lunch on a daily basis. This is still a salad, but with a bit of a fun twist. The sautéed vegetables are combined in the hot pan with vinegar to make up the dressing, which is then tossed with the cooked bacon and the cool greens. It all goes together in a flash as well, and would make an awesome side dish for a summer bbq!
We buy our beef bacon here. If you visit, be sure to tell Mark and Cindy we said "Hi!"!

Warm Spinach Salad

6 slices beef bacon, chopped into bite sized pieces (substitute nitrate free pork bacon if you wish)

½ cup organic shallots, coarsely chopped

1 cup of chopped fresh organic tomato

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

4 cups baby organic spinach

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup toasted organic walnuts (optional)

Place your spinach in a large bowl and set aside.

Sauté your bacon in a medium to large cast iron pan. When it is just starting to crisp up, remove from pan leaving the fat remaining in the pan. You will want about 2 tbsp, so if your bacon is really fatty, remove all but that amount.

Sauté the shallots in the bacon fat until they just start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomato and sauté for a minute more, until it starts to soften and release the juices. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, and season with some fresh ground black pepper and sea salt to taste.

Add the bacon and toasted walnuts, if using, to the bowl of spinach, and then pour the contents of the hot pan, juices and all on top, and toss well to combine.

Serve immediately.