Spinach Salad Recipe
- 4 eggs
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 tablespoon mustard powder
- 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
- 10 ounces fresh spinach - chopped washed and dried
- 1 head iceberg lettuce - rinsed dried, and chopped
- 1/2 pound bacon - cooked and crumbled
- 1 1/2 cups crushed croutons
- 1 red onion sliced in rings
- Carbohydrate 15.0947527182275 g
- Cholesterol 2.45 mg
- Fat 21.2399773180762 g
- Fiber 0.280791668069888 g
- Protein 2.32263854199652 g
- Saturated Fat 1.85946000193414 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (183g)
- Sodium 65.2795000001428 mg
- Sugar 14.8139610501577 g
- Trans Fat 0.298299167005815 g
- Calories 259 calories
Step-by-step
- Place eggs in a saucepan and cover completely with cold water. Bring water to a boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop.
- In a small saucepan, combine the diced onion, sugar, black pepper, celery salt, mustard, vegetable oil, and vinegar. Whisk over high heat until all ingredients are well mixed and onions are translucent. Remove from heat and refrigerate until cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs, spinach, iceberg, bacon, croutons and onion rings. Toss together.
- Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat evenly.
Ingredient proportions alone do not reveal how this dressing achieves its emulsion when heated over high heat until the onions turn translucent. Combining fresh spinach with crisp iceberg lettuce balances sturdy greens against delicate ones, though scaling down this eight-serving yield simply requires dividing the oil and vinegar in a strict 3-to-1 ratio.
The Chemistry of Cooked Dressings
Heating the vinegar, sugar, and mustard powder dissolves the granules completely before the vegetable oil is whisked in, creating a stable suspension that clings to raw leaves without pooling at the base of the bowl. Boiling eggs for exactly 10 to 12 minutes off the heat source stops the yolks from turning chalky or developing a sulfurous gray ring.Leaf Selection and Assembly
Fresh spinach must be thoroughly dried in a salad spinner before mixing, because residual moisture dilutes the dressing and prevents the crumbled bacon and crushed croutons from maintaining their distinct textures. Refrigerating the cooked dressing until entirely cold prevents the residual heat from wilting the delicate greens prematurely.
