Recipe: Spinach, Bacon & Egg Salad

You've asked, and I'm delivering! Here's the start of the many recipes that I plan to share with you all this week!

This Spinach, Bacon and Egg Salad was originally inspired by one found in Lisa Leake's 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook. You can buy her book here and get tons of inspiration and recipes from her blog 100 Days of Real Food.

What I love most about this salad is that it's quick, easy and filling. Plus it contains healthy fats, nutrients, and protein. As a general statement, I love salads that are versatile and this one is just that. Don't like the dressing? Use your favorite! Don't have almonds on hand? How about pecans or cashews! Have an orange or some bell peppers you need to use up? Toss 'em in! Really though, this is a great base for so many add ins, just play around until you find what you like best! 

AND, I've drafted up an easy printer friendly version of the recipe so you can add it to your collection! You'll see on the recipe in the upper right hand side that I have created a Whole30 graphic. I'll try to mark each recipe page with a graphic similar to this so you can easily flip through an know which recipes are Whole30 compliant, Paleo, etc!

Spinach, Bacon & Egg Salad with Creamy Orange-Poppy Dressing

Prep Time:  25 minutes                      Serves:   2

Ingredients:                                                                Dressing:

4 cups raw spinach                                                           1 egg

3 strips bacon                                                                    ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

¼ cup toasted almonds                                                      1 clove garlic

2 eggs                                                                                1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/8 cup pepitas or sunflower seeds                                  ¼ cup orange juice

1 fuji (or other sweet) apple                                              ½ tsp. poppy seeds

½ red onion              

                                                           

Instructions:

1. To make the dressing, combine all ingredients EXCEPT the poppy seeds in a small bowl or wide mouth mason jar and blend with an immersion blender. If you don't own an immersion blender (you should ask for one for Christmas!), you can also use your blender or your food processor. Once creamy and smooth, stir in the poppy seeds by hand. 

2.   Bring a small pot of water to a boil, then add the eggs and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, then place in a bowl of ice water to cool. While the eggs are cooking, place the spinach into two bowls.   

3. While the eggs continue to cook, cook the strips of bacon until crispy. Drain on a paper towel and then crumble and add to the bowls of spinach. Sprinkle the almonds and seeds on top. 

4. Dice the apple and the red onion and add to the salad. 

5. Once the eggs have cooled, peel and slice them, then add to the salad. Dress the salad just before serving. 

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If you're not so much the printed recipe kind of person, you can hover over the photo and pin it to Pinterest. The pin will lead you back to this post where you can see all the instructions while working in the kitchen! This feature is available on all my photos and posts as well! Also, I would love to hear some feedback from everyone, both on the recipes you try, and the blog as a whole! Send me an email or comment with your thoughts!