Spinach-Pear Salad with Honey-Bacon Vinaigrette

Although this pleasantly wilted salad is best made shortly before serving, you can prepare and chill the vinaigrette up to a day in advance; microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds and stir well before tossing with the salad ingredients.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups)

Ingredients

• Vinaigrette:
• 4  bacon slices
• 1/4  cup  cider vinegar
• 1/4  cup  rice vinegar
• 2  tablespoons  honey
• 2  teaspoons  Dijon mustard
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 
  Salad:
• 1/3  cup  thinly vertically sliced red onion
• 2  large ripe Bartlett pears, cored and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 3 cups)
• 1  (10-ounce) package fresh spinach

Preparation

To prepare vinaigrette, cook bacon in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 teaspoon drippings in pan. Crumble bacon; set aside. Add vinegars, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper to drippings in pan, stirring with a whisk; bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

To prepare salad, combine onion, pears, spinach, and bacon in a large bowl. Drizzle with vinaigrette, and toss gently to coat.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

41 (22% from fat)

Fat:

1g (sat 0.3g,mono 0.4g,poly 0.1g)

Protein:

1.2g

Carbohydrate:

7.2g

Fiber:

1.3g

Cholesterol:

2mg

Iron:

0.7mg

Sodium:

103mg

Calcium:

21mg

Charity Ferreira, Ice Cream Treats: Easy Ways to Transform Your Favorite Ice Cream into Spectacular Desserts, Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2006