Warm Spinach Salad

I keep a chunk of bacon, about 1/4 pound in the freezer to add flavor to some dishes. Freezing the bacon makes it easier to cut the lardons. Alice Waters doesn't give any specific amounts for the ingredients. You just have to use your intuition on the amounts. The instructions in parenthesis are my own.

Ingredients

spinach
bacon
shallot
olive oil
sherry vinegar
one fresh baguette, sweet or sour

Procedure

1. Wash and dry very fresh spinach leaves. Medium, slightly more substantial leaves are better for this salad than very delicate tiny ones. Prepare some lardons of bacon (cut bacon into fine sticks, 1/8 inch wide and about 1 inch long) and fry them crisp. Save the rendered fat. Oil and toast small croutons (slice a baguette into thin slices, allowing a couple of croutons for each diner, brush with a little olive oil, toast both sides under a broiler or grill both sides, rub it with a clove of raw garlic) and season with pepper. Marinate diced shallot in sherry vinegar with a pinch of salt. Whisk in olive oil to taste, keeping the dressing rather sharp.

2. Put the spinach leaves in a stainless steel bowl and toss with the dressing. Mix in the bacon and croutons and season with pepper. Put the bowl over a pan of simmering water and toss continuously with tongs while the salad heats. Remove when the leaves are just wilted and serve immediately on warm plates. Serve with the croutons.

3. Alternatively, dress the salad with the shallots and vinegar, omitting the olive oil. Put the rendered fat in a small pan and heat it very hot. Heat the salad with the croutons and bacon over the simmering water, pour the hot fat over the spinach , toss until just wilted, and serve. Serve with the croutons.


From Chez Panisse Vegetables

Last updated: February 25, 2007