I like to incorporate fresh fruit when I make a green salad, especially a spinach salad. I still have some of those delicious wild blueberries which partner well with Brie. Bacon is often served with a spinach salad.
However, it seemed to me, that if you drained off most of the fat from the pan and cooked the mushrooms in the residual bacon fat and then heated the vinaigrette in this mixture, the combination of the flavours would be outstanding. I was not disappointed.
Spinach Salad with a Warm Mushroom Vinaigrette is a flavourful salad, which is good with barbecued meats or fish.
Spinach Salad with Warm Mushroom Vinaigrette
Print recipe| Serves | serves 4 |
Ingredients
- 4 - 6 Cups baby spinach or regular spinach (washed, stems removed and bite sized)
- 4 or 5 Strips of lean bacon (cooked in a frying pan until crisp and then crumbled)
- 8 - 12 medium sized cremini or white mushrooms (sliced into 1/4 inch slices)
- 1 Medium sized wedge of Brie (about 125 gm) (crust cut off and cut into bite sized pieces)
- 1/2 cup wild blueberries (may substitute with cultivated)
Vinaigrette
- 5 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/2 Tsp salt
- 1/2 Tsp Dijon or your favourite mustard
- 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup or 1/2 tsp of sugar
- good grinding of freshly ground pepper
Directions
| Wash and spin dry the spinach; remove tough stems and tear into bite sized pieces. Set aside | |
| Mix the ingredients of the vinaigrette together, blending with a whisk or a small blender such as the Magic Bullet. | |
| Cook the bacon in a frying pan over medium heat, turning frequently until nicely crisp. Drain on a paper towel. Then break or cut the bacon into small pieces. Set aside. | |
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Remove most of the bacon fat from the frying pan. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until they begin to soften and then cook for two more minutes. Add the vinaigrette to the frying pan and heat until it is warm, but not boiling.  | |
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Place the spinach in a salad bowl. Add the bacon pieces and Brie.  | |
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Toss with the warm vinaigrette. Add the blueberries and toss gently into the mixture. Serve immediately on salad plates.  | |