Spinach Salad with Warm "Bacon" Vinaigrette

By SushiChick

I like pigs. A lot. The bacon in this recipe is vegetarian, meant to provide that smoky swine flavor without hurting our snub-nosed pals. This impromptu recipe find was a big hit with my husband, who is trying on the vegetarian diet to see how it fits. So far, so good!

Ingredients

• Spinach
• 2-3 hard boiled eggs
• 1/2 pkg. fake bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• Liquid Smoke (hickory)
• 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper
• sliced mushrooms (we used Crimini, but any kind is bueno)
• 1 small red onion, cut into thin slices

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 20mins
Adapted from vegoutdetroit.com

Preparation

Step 1

DRESSING
Add 3 Tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil (I went with olive) to a small saucepan and add 4-5 drops liquid smoke. It doesn’t take much! Whisk in vinegar, sugar and mustard. Season with a pinch each salt and pepper.

While the dressing is cooking, preheat the oven to 375 and add the bacon strips immediately, while the oven is still pre-heating. By the time the temperature is reached, the bacon will only need a minute or two more before it's ready to go.

We also sauteed the mushrooms with a little olive oil that was left over from the dressing and fresh garlic.

Toss everything together and call it delicious!