Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Spinach Salad

This a recipe that my neighbor got from Rachel Ray (I don't know if it was on a TV show or the web site) and brought to Bunco. I replaced the candied pecan recipe with one that I found (I think on AllRecipes.com) because Rachel's were too sweet. I still haven't mastered the technique on the pecans; the candy hardens really quickly once you add the pecans, so it's hard to coat them evenly. You'll have to play with it and try to figure it out!

Baby spinach
Prosciutto*, cooked until crisp and cut into 1" pieces
Craisins
Feta cheese, crumbled
Candied pecans
Honey Dijon salad dressing (I like Newman's Own)

*I can't ever find Prosciutto in the stores, so I get that already-cooked bacon and cut up a few pieces (without heating it up again). I actually like it better than the Prosciutto, anyway.

Candied Pecans
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 c. pecan halves

Have a piece of tin foil ready next to the stove top. Stir salt and sugar together in a small skillet over medium heat until smooth and golden; add pecans and stir to coat. Transfer to foil and cool completely; break apart.

2 comments:

Adrienne said...

Thanks for posting this recipe. Kallie told me how good it was and it is. When I did the pecans I used chopped (it's what I had) Then I added a teaspoon of butter and the nuts before heating the salt and sugar. I stirred and cooked everything together and as the sugar caramelized it coated the nuts evenly. It worked really great this way.

Kate said...

That sounds good - I should try that. Today I made this again, and I microwaved the pecans on high for one minute before I added them to the sugar. That way, they were hot enough that they didn't cool the sugar down too quickly. So, that worked too. :)