Wilted Spinach Salad

Not the recipe below, but close.

I was reading Nora Roberts’ book, Angels Fall, in which the female character is a cordon bleu chef, working as a fry cook in a Wyoming, backwoods diner.

She prepares a salad for a private dinner for two that was…cooked. Her male companion was shocked, a hot salad?

Funny, I remember my grandmother making a wilted spinach salad. First she fried the bacon, and then she cooked the greens in the bacon grease. I seem to remember the dressing was a sweet vinegar, added to the bacon grease.

Just a little trip down memory lane, and what do you know, my new cookbook has the recipe.

Wilted Spinach Salad

10-12 oz. fresh spinach, washed and torn into bite size pieces

½ cup red onion, minced

5-6 radishes, sliced

2 hard boiled eggs, 1 sliced and 1 chopped

2-4 slices bacon

1 to 1 ½ Tbsp bacon drippings

1 ½ Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp vinegar

1 Tbsp water

½ tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper

Place prepared spinach in bowl. Add onions and radishes. Refrigerate, tightly covered.

Fry bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towel and set aside.

In a small jar or measuring cup, combine bacon drippings with sugar, vinegar, water, salt and pepper. Refrigerate all ingredients until just before serving.

When ready to serve, microwave the dressing on high for 30 to 45 seconds, or until mixture starts to boil. Toss the chopped egg with the greens then pour hot dressing over the green mixture, toss again lightly.

Top with sliced egg and crumbled bacon.