Sunday, September 16, 2012

Spinach Pear Salad

In January 2001, prior to moving to Oregon, a co-worker asked us over for dinner.  One of the side dishes she prepared was the best spinach salad I'd ever tasted.  Luckily she shared the recipe with me. At the time we weren't vegetarian let alone vegan so it was made with bacon and feta cheese.  I have since veganized the recipe.

To make it fit for an omnivore add cooked bacon crumbles and feta prior to serving.

(Spinach salad served with marinated grilled tofu and olive oil drizzled & grilled baguette)

JILL'S SPINACH PEAR SALAD

INGREDIENTS:
1 bag/bunch Baby Spinach
1/3 cup Red Onion, finely sliced
2 Kiwi fruit, peeled and chopped
1 Pear, sliced and chopped
sprinkle of vegan Bacon Bits or sauted grain based bacon substitute

3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Balsamic or Red Wine Vinegar  ( I use balsamic)
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 clove Garlic, pressed and/or minced
1 tsp Agave Syrup, you can also use sugar if you prefer
(1/2 Cup each feta and bacon crumbles if making for non-vegans)

DIRECTIONS:
1.  Rinse and spin-dry spinach and place in medium bowl.  Add onion, kiwi and pear; toss.

2.  In small bowl whisk olive oil, vinegar, garlic, mustard, and agave/sugar.

3.  Drizzle salad with dressing and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with bacon bits or real bacon and feta if using.

(Vegan bacon bits sprinkled on top)


Enjoy.  I have also made this with fresh strawberries when in season in place of the kiwis and it is wonderful.

-  Au Revoir

" What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art." - Augustus Saint-Gaudens

2 comments:

  1. What are the Vegan bacon bits made out of? I haven't come across thrm just yet, and often find that anything resembling meat stuff has gluten in it.

    Looks delicious, spinach is one of my favourite greens.

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    Replies
    1. The ones we use are Betty Crocker Bac-O's. They are not healthy by any means but we don't use much. I've also bought some at the healthy food store that didn't have the red coloring in them and were much better for you. The Betty Crocker ones have defatted soy flour, soybean oil, water, salt, artificial flavor, sugar, caramel, and coloring. See, not healthy at all.

      They can be found down the salad dressing aisle, usually on the top shelf with the real bacon bits. Here is a link so you can see what the package looks like. http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crocker-Bacos-Flavor-4-4-Ounce/dp/B000EFBM4O They are about $2.50 a container here and last us a really long time. Since I don't use them often, I just store them in the fridge.

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