Sauteed Spinach with Bacon
Thanksgiving is only two weeks away! Where has this year gone? To get ready, A Taste of Home Cooking hosted a Thanksgiving Sides Recipe Swap. I'm really, really late making and posting this. I tried to get to it twice last week, but with last minute things and my daughter getting sick, and then my husband's surprise birthday weekend, it just didn't happen. I finally got to it tonight - I apologize to those waiting to see the post!!
Anyway, the recipe I was given was for Sauteed Spinach with Bacon from the blog Life and Kitchen; it is originally a Martha Stewart Recipe. I shared my recipe for Green Beans with Bacon and Caramelized Shallots.
I love spinach, and I love bacon, so was really excited to make this. Bacon makes everything better, right? Well, I am really sorry to say that bacon didn't do it for us in this recipe. Spinach is so delicate and light that sauteing it in bacon grease was just too overwhelming (however this technique works great for heartier veggies, like Brussels sprouts or green beans). I even removed half of the grease from the pan, but it was still just too much. I did, however, love the crispy bacon mixed in with the spinach. So while I won't wilt spinach in bacon grease again, I will add crispy, crumbled bacon to spinach.
Please excuse the picture - now that I don't have natural light for taking pictures because it gets dark so darn early, my pictures suffer a bit.
Ingredients
- 2 slices of bacon (I used low sodium bacon)
- Bag of spinach (I used baby spinach)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar (I omitted this)
- Added: 1 tbsp light olive oil (since I removed some of the bacon grease)
- Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crispy; about 5-8 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Crumble and set aside.
- Remove some of the bacon grease (about half) from the pan, add olive oil.
- Add spinach, season with salt and pepper. saute 1-2 minutes until wilted.
- If using it, add white wine vinegar
- Top with crumbled bacon
