Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

Chef John Patterson created this hearty salad for enjoying some of the first harvests of the growing season: leafy greens, radishes, sugar snap peas, and salad turnips. Use what you can find at the market, and experiment with other vegetables that catch your eye. “This early into spring,” shares Chef Patterson, “the vegetables are so sweet and tender that they really don’t need any cooking at all.”

At our Market Garden, we’ve been harvesting the spinach planted back in the fall in an effort to extend the growing season. And we’ve recently planted new spinach, radish, and salad turnip starts in the greenhouse, which will be available at our Farm Store in the coming weeks. Snap peas will go in the ground soon, but take longer to mature, so we’ll be tasting the first sugar snap peas in late May to early June.

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Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 lb fresh spinach
• 8  salad turnips (about the size of ping pong balls), cut into wedges
• 8 red belle radishes, sliced thin
• ½ lb sugar snap peas 
• 1 lb thick cut bacon

Dressing

• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup apple cider
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• ¼ cup + 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp bacon fat
• salt to taste

Method

1. Pull the veins from each end of the sugar snap peas (they should pull away from the shell as fine, green strings).  In a medium mixing bowl, add the snap peas, wedges of turnip, and slices of radish.  Season with 1 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. Set aside. 
2. Bake off the bacon until crisp. Reserve the bacon fat. Chop bacon into bite-sized pieces.  Add bacon bits to the bowl with the vegetables and mix evenly.
3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp bacon fat and the minced shallot.  Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent browning. Once the shallots have become translucent, deglaze the pan with the apple cider, apple cider vinegar, and maple syrup.  Reduce this mixture to ⅓ its original volume. Once reduced, add remaining olive oil.
4. In a large mixing bowl, add the spinach and the warm vinaigrette and toss to evenly coat the leaves. Add a pinch of salt to taste. Transfer the greens to four plates or bowls. If there is vinaigrette remaining at the bottom of the mixing bowl, feel free to add it to the bacon and vegetables. Give the vegetables one last toss, then distribute evenly onto each plate.