Recipe for Baby Spinach Salad with Blue Cheese and Violets
adapted from The Pioneer Woman
Serves 1-2
Servings: 0
Ingredients
- * 2 slices thick cut bacon- optional I used my preservative free home-cured bacon
- * 1 small red onion peeled and thinly sliced
- * 1/2 pound clean and dry organic baby spinach
- *1 cup coarsely chopped pea sprouts/shoots- optional (use another seasonal vegetable like asparagus if you prefer
- *1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese or more/less to taste
- *1/4 cup chopped raw walnuts or more/less to taste
- *15-20 violet flowers
- *toasted walnut or olive oil for drizzling on the salad
- *squeeze of fresh lemon or drizzle of balsamic vinegar- optional
Instructions
- 1. If using bacon, cook it in a skillet for several minutes, until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and set aside to drain on paper towels.
- 2. Add the onion to the skillet with the bacon fat and cook over low-medium heat until well caramelized, 10-15 minutes (if leaving the bacon out of the salad, cook your red onion in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil instead). Toss the pea sprouts/shoots into the pan with the onion for the last minute or two of cooking. Take off the heat and allow to cool.
- 3. Crumble or chop the bacon and mix it with the spinach, onions, and pea shoots in a medium-large bowl. Compose salad on plate(s), then garnish with the blue cheese, the walnuts, and the violets. Drizzle the salad with walnut or olive oil, and add a little balsamic vinegar or fresh lemon if you like, as well.