Spinach Salad

I mentioned spinach salad in my last post, and thought about it today again. I didn't make it, because I don't have any of the ingredients in my fridge. When I was gone, my friends cleaned out my refrigerator and threw out a lot of stuff, which was fine by me. I actually considered the cucumbers in there which were already a week and a half old when I left for Canada while I was in Canada. It was good to not have to re-discover them upon my return.

Anyhow, while there were 47 people at the cottage over the long weekend the food was outstanding. My aunt and uncle had shopped for the core ingredients of all the meals. My aunt used to work for Maple Leaf, and still has friends there, so got ahold of some fabulous meat. More on that at another time, but basically three barbeques were fired up with usually two cooks manning them. Each family was responsible for one salad- so there was always three or so giant bowls of various salads at any dinner. When it came to be my turn, I made spinach salad which was given cheers on the most part, though I got some jeers because of its garlicklyness. I used probably a whole head of it in a massive bowl of salad. But I love garlic, and have been in Korea so long I could eat a raw head of garlic like an apple by now.

Here's a rough recipe for delicious spinach salad. It's do-able in Korea, so if you're here- try it out!

Get a mass of button mushrooms, the more the merrier, and slice them up- say, a quarter of an inch thick? You know, not wafer thin slices, but not giant hunks either.
In a separate bowl, mix a general 1:3 ratio of red wine vinegar and olive oil with a teaspoon or two of Dijon mustard, some salt and pepper, and a generous amount of finely chopped garlic. If you want, throw in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. I mean, why the hell not? Pour this over the sliced mushrooms and mix 'em up. Then, let them sit and marinate for awhile. A couple hours or more.
In the meanwhile, fry up a few slices of bacon, preferably the regular smoked kind you get in North America (and can buy frozen at Wal-Mart if you're in Korea.) I've never tried this with the ham-like version of bacon you get here in the meat section. I guess it'd be ok, but really- crisp smokey bacon is the better way.
Just before you're ready to eat, add a whole bunch of spinach to the mushrooms and mix it all up. It was great, in Canada, to buy bags of "triple washed" baby spinach and just open and spill. Here, of course, make sure you wash your leaves well, or you'll end up with a gritty salad.
Toss in the bacon, and if you want you can add an egg. Not RAW, silly! If you're lucky enough to have a microwave- just put the egg in a bowl and nuke it til the white is not quite done and the yolk is runny. I usually poach an egg in water with a splash of vinegar for a minute or so. Cool the egg before you throw it in the salad, or you'll wilt the greens.
Toss, and viola.

I'll sometimes eat a giant bowl of this for dinner with a slice or two of toast. Not sliced white crap, this salad deserves better than that,...maybe a nice sunflower sour dough or multi-grain from Paris Baguette. But if what you have is white,...I'm not going to judge you.

Be warned, of you add as much garlic as I do, you may burp it up all night. Especially if you're at a cottage drinking beer. But then again, if you all shared the salad, you'll all smell the same, so you'll fit in just fine.