Studio Living and I Refuse to Make Boring Salads

I got out of the habit of eatings salads when I had braces years ago. The greens would get caught in my teeth, which was a bit embarrassing and made it a bit hard to eat.

I almost always have a deficiency of vegetables in my diet. One of the ways I get them if by putting things on a bed of spinach. Today, I went for a spinach salad with steak. I complicated things and expanded cooking time, by using the immersion circulator, but I"ll skip that part until almost everyone has their own way to sous vide. A lot of InstaPots have that attachment, for example..

Ingredients for one serving:

• 3 or 4 handfuls of raw spinach, washed, drained, dry, washed again. If it's adult spinach, tear it a bit. If you have a clamshell package, about half will do.
• 4 oz steak, cooked to your liking (you can serve it warm or cold)
• 3 large mushrooms, sliced (I used crimini, white ones work just fine)
• 5 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 hard-boiled egg
• 2-3 Tablespoons of thinly sliced red onion or shallot
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon of your favorite vinegar. Balsamic doesn't work here, it will overwhelm the bacon. I used a white tarragon vinegar that needed to be used up
• 1 teaspoon mustard. I used dijon.
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt & pepper to taste

Cut/slice/chop your vegetables first. This will make assembly easier. Once that's done, set them aside and start cooking your bacon Move it to paper towels to drain. Reserve one Tablespoon of the bacon fat. Put the bacon and the fat in whatever container you use to make salad dressing (I recommend a glass jar  like one for pasta sauce or wide-mouthed tea bottle).

Cook the steak to your liking (I go for rare). Let rest while you make the dressing.

In your dressing vessel (say that five times fast), add the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and sugar. If you're using a bowl, whisk thoroughly. If you're using a jar, cover the jar with its lid tightly and shake it for 30-60 seconds. Taste and adjust as needed.

Arrange spinach on a dinner plate. Slice your steak and put it on top of the spinach. You can serve deconstructed (egg, onion, and mushrooms set in little piles on top of the spinach) or add the other ingredients with layers. Or just scatter everything about. Give the dressing another whisk or shake, and pour on the salad. 

I don't make this often, but I really should. It's filling, it's tasty, there are lots of different textures, and it's full of produce. Win all around!