Eat your spinach, you no good infink. Eat it. Eat it! Eat it!

-Poopdeck Pappy

Our farmshare came to a close last week. Bummer. Until next year, friend. What hasn't come to an end is our supply of spinach. It was particularly hardy this year, so we had bag after bag in the bottom of our fridge. Its not like the bagged stuff at the grocery store. This stuff has insane flavor and texture. Because we can't stand to see it go to waste, we've been eating a lot lately.

Why have I not had more spinach salads in my life? They are crazy good! I want more, more, MORE! We whipped one up the other night. So good. We used Alton Brown's recipe, below. It was easy and delicious. My husband doesn't like eggs, so we omitted that step...but if I was making it for myself, I'd definitely include it.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces young spinach
• 2 large eggs
• 8 pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large white mushrooms, sliced
• 3 ounces red onion (1 small), very thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Remove the stems from the spinach and wash, drain and pat dry thoroughly. Place into a large mixing bowl and set aside. 
2. Place the eggs into an electric kettle and cover with cold water by at least 1-inch. Turn the kettle on. Once the water comes to a boil, the kettle will turn itself off. Leave the eggs in the water for 15 minutes. Remove and peel off the shell. Slice each egg into 8 pieces and set aside. 
3. While the eggs are cooking, fry the bacon and remove to a paper towel to drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of the rendered fat. Crumble the bacon and set aside. 
4. Transfer the fat to a small saucepan set over low heat and whisk in the red wine vinegar, sugar and Dijon mustard. Season with a small pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper.  
5. Add the mushrooms and the sliced onion to the spinach and toss. Add the dressing and bacon and toss to combine. 
6. Divide the spinach between 4 plates or bowls and evenly divide the egg among them. Season with pepper, as desired. Serve immediately. 

 

As if this bit of deliciousness wasn't enough, my husband decided to use up some of our butternut squash by making it into a soup. Have I mentioned what a great cook my husband is? It was the perfect meal, and it really had me really warming up to fall.