Yet Another Spinach Salad

While I have posted a couple of other spinach salad recipes (see here and here), this is the original and best loved spinach salad in our family. It's taken awhile to get it just right. I started out with a mustard viniagrette dressing about which Bob was not too enthusiastic. I then made a sweeter dressing that I didn't think had enough personality. But a couple of days ago I found what might be the perfect combination for our family. It's an easy dressing with just the right combination of tanginess and sweetness.

As with many salad recipes, there are endless variations. I've listed some of our favorite ingredients below. We mix and match according to what we have on hand and what seems to look the prettiest. The kids agree that the essential ingredients are bacon (of course), eggs and cheese. And of course, spinach.

Spinach Salad
6-8 cups fresh spinach, stems removed
1-2 mushrooms, thinly sliced
5-6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
3-4 radishes, thinly sliced
1/3 to 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1-2 carrots, shredded or thinly sliced
1/2 cup mozzarella or cheddar cheese, grated
2-3 hard boiled eggs, sliced

Mix all ingredients except the eggs in a large mixing bowl. You can actually chop up the eggs and mix them in if you like; I think they look great sliced and placed on top. Toss all the ingredients with the dressing (recipe below). Top with the eggs if you chose not to mix them in.

Spinach Salad Dressing
1/2 cup creamy salad dressing (e.g. Miracle
          Whip®)
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

Transfer to a serving dish and serve.