Wilted Spinach Salad with Crispy Onions



Wilted Spinach Salad
with
Crispy Onions

This was one of my childhood favorites.  The minute I saw the first sprouts of spinach in the garden,  I would beg my mother to make this salad.  She would always chuckle because I did not eat spinach, bacon, eggs or onions.  My mother would always say that the spinach had to be big enough to strip the stems.  I tried to make this salad from baby spinach in sold in the salad bags. The leaves were too delicate and it sort of disintegrated.  I tell you this because, as we all find out when we get older, my mom was right. Look for the spinach with the Turnip and Mustard Greens at the grocery store.
When my mother made this salad, she used green onions from the garden.  I had to improvise because I forgot the green onions while shopping.  My son suggested that we make batter fried onion rings but I thought that it would conflict with the freshness of the salad, so we comprised and fried the onions in oil.
You will need two pans for this salad. One to fry the bacon in and one to fry the onions, I considered frying the onions in the bacon drippings but was afraid that there would not be enough fat rendered from the bacon and that the drippings would burn.
So here is the recipe!

1 Egg, Hard Boiled and coarsely chopped
1 pound of Spinach, stripped of hard stems
5 slices of Bacon, finely chopped, I use kitchen shears
1 small Onion, sliced in rings
Enough oil to fry
1/4 cup of Vinegar, I used a combination of Rice and White Wine, but my mom always used Apple Cider
1 teaspoon of Sugar
1/2 teaspoon of Salt
Pepper to taste

Wash spinach and pat dry with paper towels, tear into a salad bowl. Set aside.
Heat oil in one pan, on medium,  for the onions and start the bacon in the second pan cooking on low to low medium.
 Let the bacon cook until crispy and remove to a bowl.  Remove pan from heat and leave the drippings in the pan.
To the first pan, add the onions to cook.  Fry the onions until lightly brown.  Remove to a plate covered with paper towels.
Mix together the vinegar, sugar and salt.  Place the pan with the bacon drippings back on the heat and add the vinegar mixture.  Let that heat over low to medium heat until it warms.
Sprinkle the spinach with pepper and pour the warmed vinegar and bacon drippings over the spinach.  Toss and top with the onions, bacon and chopped egg.  Serve immediately.
 Oh my goodness, that is all I can say about this recipe.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do!

Deloris