that I talk about bacon here a lot?

Well, I'm about to do it again, by way of tonights dinner:
Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing


Holy cow.
Or should I say holy pig?
Or is that an oxymoron?
Anyway, I hadn't made this in forever but I've now just reminded myself of how much I love it. As in might be like my #2 on the list of all time awesomest salads kind of love it.
It's got all the essential salad elements...tangy, salty, sweet, crunchy and vegetabley, and it's impossible for me to feel guilty about eating bacon when it's on the same plate as a big pile of of spinach.
In this case, in addition to the pile of spinach and handful of roughly chopped crisp bacon, I included sliced tomato, toasted almonds, thinly sliced red onion and some croutons. It's also great with cucumber and alfalfa sprouts and practically begs for broccoli, and typically the nuts are sunflower seeds, but I didn't have any of that so I punted using what was in my fridge and it was still delicious.
It wouldn't have mattered, really, because what makes this salad rock my world is the dressing, and if you're the cholesterol police you should definitely stop reading right here.

So, after you've cooked six or eight slices of really great bacon (it's for TWO entree-sized salads...don't freak out) and they've left you with a pan full of greasy love, toss in a handful of chopped shallot and let that saute for a minute. Then, whisk in an equal amount of cider vinegar and enough sugar to get a nice balance between sweet and sour, aka anywhere between 1/4 and 1/2 c., depending on how much bacon love, I mean fat, you had. Toss this with the spinach while the dressing is still warm, add the bacon and the other topping and enjoy, keeping in mind that the Popeye size serving of spinach you're enjoying complete with all those good for you vitamins and minerals more than makes up for the naughtiness.
Right?