Thursday Recipe - Spinach Salad

Guess what? It's National Eat Bacon Week! So in honor of that new holiday—

What do you mean it isn't a real holiday? It should be. Okay, I admit I just made it up. Bacon is one of the four basic food groups at my house. The others are chocolate, cold cereal, and granola bars.

Bacon can be healthy, if you add in enough other vegetables. Here's one of my kids' favorites with bacon.

Spinach Salad

1/2 c. red onion, sliced very thin
2 T. white vinegar

6 slices bacon
6 c. fresh spinach
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 c. roasted salted pecans, chopped
Poppy Seed Dressing (see below)

Put onion and vinegar in small bowl, set aside (if the onion is really mild you can skip this step). Cook bacon until crisp. Cool and crumble into small pieces. Arrange spinach on a large platter. Drain vinegar from onion. Top with cranberries, oranges, and onion. Serve with dressing.

Poppy Seed Dressing

3 limes
1 T. vinegar
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 T. poppy seeds

Grate the zest from the limes, you need about 2 t., then juice the limes. Measure 2 T. lime juice into a small mixing bowl. Add the zest, sugar, pepper, salt, and mustard. Beat with a mixer until the sugar is dissolved. Slowly add the oil, beating well after each addition. Dressing should thicken when you're adding the oil. Stir in poppy seeds. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. If it separates, just stir before serving.