Aunt Donna's Spinach Salad

Megan is busy cruising (er working) in the Mediterranean this summer so she asked her sister Nancy to share one of their family's favorite salad recipes. 

Nancy writes: 

Every year for the 4^th of the July our extended family has gathered in Bridgeport, California.  Bridgeport is a small town in the Eastern Sierra Mountains in Northern California (pull out your atlas or check the link to see where this is Bridgeport, CA).  We gather there because it is where our Aunt Donna and Uncle Smitty live.  We love to spend time there because it is a great mix of family, food and a patriotic good time!

One of the many highlights is the food.  Our family traditions include a Mexican night (two kinds of enchilidas, chile relleno), fabulous beef brisket (homemade French bread and peppers), and traditional hamburgers and hotdogs (with all the fixings including fresh made potato and macaroni salad).  We also get the reap the benefits of Uncle Smitty’s fantastic garden – fresh asparagus, lettuce and especially spinach.  Which brings us to the topic: Spinach Salad.  Unfortunately, this year we had a crazy hail storm when we arrived, so no fresh spinach for us. 

Uncle Smitty's garden - post hail storm.  

This salad is easy and beautiful.  It is best with Uncle Smitty’s spinach, but it tastes pretty great with the bag you can buy at the grocery store or farmers market.

Aunt Donna’s Spinach Salad

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

5 strips of crispy bacon

Spinach

Dressing

2/3 cup salad oil (I used Canola)

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

2 tsps Worcestshire

Six ingredient salad dressing

In a small bowl or jar, stir together oil, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, onion and Worcestshire.  Mix well, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Aunt Donna and the best salad dressing!

To make the salad, remove and discard tough spinach stems, and tear into bite sized pieces.    Add bacon and chopped egg.  Toss with dressing and serve!

Finished Spinach Salad