It's cold here in Connecticut and when I woke yesterday morning there was a fine layer of white on the grass. So, what do you suppose I would conjure up for dinner? Soup? Stew? Warm biscuits? Nope, salad.
My sincerest apologies to those of you who thought this blog post was going to be about Paris Hilton. I'm taking this opportunity to jump into a realm of food that I haven't spent much time thinking about and took it as a challenge when Amy suggested that we do another salad week. So, with respect to our favorite non-celebrity celebrity, I give to you: The hot salad.
While perusing the Internet for ideas, I came across a Bon Appetit recipe for a spinach salad and became intrigued. As most of you know, the fun of cooking these days for me is finding a recipe and lightening it. So, I set off to do just that. The salad by Bon Appetit, as written, was over 700 calories a serving and didn't have enough components to be a "dinner" salad, thus giving me two challenges: Lighten it while adding more ingredients. Needless to say, I was happy with the results. Hell, that's why you're reading about it!
Wilted Spinach Salad with Warm Feta Dressing
(As adapted from Bon Appetit)
24oz cherry tomatoes
1 large red onion
4 tbls olive oil, divided
6oz turkey bacon, cut into small pieces
10oz baby spinach
6oz feta cheese, fat free
2 tbls sherry vinegar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place tomatoes and whole unpeeled onion in separate roasting pans. Drizzle one tablespoon of oil over each pans component, sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.
When oven is preheated, add the pan with the onion and roast for 1 hour. When the onion is finished, take out and let cool. Add tomatoes to the oven and let them roast for 15-20 minutes. Take out and set aside.
While the tomatoes are roasting, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium high heat until crisp. Drain and set aside. Save pan.
When onion is cool enough to touch, cut off the root, peel and slice thinly lengthwise.
In bacon pan, place the feta cheese and vinegar, cooking over medium low heat for 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the remaining 2 tbls of oil and turn off heat.
On 4 large place, evenly split the baby spinach and top each with equal portions of onion, tomatoes and bacon. Spoon dressing over each to taste or put it into a bowl for guests to add for themselves.
Serves 4 (375 calories per)
Ijust love putting roasted tomatoes in anything, the flavor is intensified in roasting. We just used our last "homegrown" tomato this week, was sorry to see them go. Salad sounds yummy and filling, as well.
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