The Baby Spinach Salad at Hotstix Pub

Submitted by Zurie

"This is a popular lunch dish at a local hole-in-the-wall! You sit on the wooden balcony, see the ocean through the dunes, smell the briny air, and just relax with a glass or two of chilled white wine ..."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• Salad dressing

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon superfine sugar (caster sugar)
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• Salad

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or canola oil)
• 1⁄2 lb bacon (streaky bacon, not lean, chopped into large pieces, 250g)
• 2 garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)
• 1 small baguette (or use ordinary bread)
• 4 eggs (preferably jumbo organic eggs)
• 14 ounces fine green beans (200g) or 14 ounces any young green beans (200g)
• 5 ounces blue cheese, crumbled into chunks (your choice, about 140g)
• 14 ounces Baby Spinach (pillow packs, washed and ready-to-use, 200g)
• 3 1⁄2 ounces grape tomatoes (plum tomatoes, 100g, red-ripe)
• salt (preferably flaky sea salt like Maldon)
• black pepper

directions

1. Beat the ingredients for the dressing together, adding some coarse black pepper. Beat until it sort of emulsifies.
2. Heat the oil in a roomy skillet over a good heat, and add the bacon. Cut the baguette (nicer than plain bread) into slices, and then into chunks, and add to the pan with the garlic. Stir and let fry. Add more oil if necessary. You want crisp bacon and fried bread -- this might take about 15 minutes.
3. While that is going on, put on the eggs to boil -- about 8 minutes.
4. Cook the beans in a little water until they turn bright green and are still crunchy. Drain and let cold water run over them briefly. Set in a draught to cool along with the eggs.
5. Rinse and dry the tomatoes. If they are large-ish, halve them: if small, keep whole.
6. To serve: You need a large bowl. Put in the baby spinach. Add everything except the eggs, and with clean hands, lightly mix.
7. Divide the salad between 4 plates. Peel and halve the eggs and put two halves on each salad heap.
8. Drizzle over the dressing (beat first if it separated). Season lightly with sea salt flakes and some black pepper.
9. Serve with extra bread rolls and cold white wine.

Reviews

[mama smurf]

My of my! We had a wonderful salad. I cut the recipe in half for DH and I and added the garlic to the dressing and put some red onion slivers in the salad but otherwise went on with the recipe. Delicious! Served with some warm garlic bread and that was really our lunch. Definately a keeper and one to make again. Thank you for posting. Made for Zurie in memory of her husband.