Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Spinach Salad w/ Warm Bacon Dressing

OMGosh....I'm totally disgusted. I was completely grossed out when I read the ingredients and the nutrition facts on T. Marzetti Spinach Salad Dressing.  The first ingredient is High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Ugh.  It also has brown sugar...holy cow...like the first ingredients being HFCS isn't enough sugar already!  So...I set out to find a better alternative.  After googling a few recipes I put together what I think is a Warm Bacon Dressing that is worth eating.  :)  Tonight I served it with a spinach salad, but it could also be used to dress potatoes as a warm potato salad dish.  Mmmm!  In my salad tonight I used 2 oz. baby spinach, 1/2 of a hard-boiled egg, 2 thinly sliced radishes, and 4 sliced fresh mushrooms.  You could also add chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or other items.  More of this or less of that.  Make it your own!  It will be wonderful ~ I promise!

Now before you freak out on me about this dressing...I know my version has a few more calories, more fat and tad more sodium.  It may not seem like the "healthier" option.  Let me say this though:  sugar and bad carbs are what make you FAT.  With that said, I've decreased the carbohydrates by over HALF from 13g to only 6g.  The sugars were dropped even more from 12g to only 3g.  Also, while agave nectar does the same amount of calories and carbs as sugar, it does not effect your blood sugar like other sugars.  All and all...my version is the much more healthy option.

THEIRS
Serving Size:  2T
Calories: 70
Total Fat: 1.5g
Sodium: 250 mg
Total Carbs: 13 g
   Dietary Fiber: 0g
   Sugars: 12g
Protein: 0g

MINE
Serving Size:  2T
Calories: 71.5
Total Fat: 4.1g
Sodium: 280.2 mg
Total Carbs: 6.1 g
   Dietary Fiber: .5 g (don't get too excited WW fans, that is a POINT 5)
   Sugars: 3.1 g
Protein: 2.3 g


WARM BACON DIJON DRESSING

INGREDIENTS
1 tsp. olive oil
4 slices of turkey bacon, chopped
1/4 cup of red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup water
1 T dijon mustard
1 T agave nectar
1 T red wine vinegar
1 tsp. cornstarch

DIRECTIONS
Add olive oil to a small saucepan (a small omelettte skillet works great too) and saute turkey bacon on med-high heat until crisp.  While bacon is cooking; combine water, mustard, nectar, vinegar, and cornstarch to a small bowl; set aside.  Add onions and garlic to bacon.  Cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add mustard mixture to the saucepan, stir while cooking for another minute until the dressing thickens up.  Serve warm.

I know! This dressing isn't very pretty, but it makes up for it in flavor.  It will be slightly thick so depending on your preference, feel free to thin it out with extra water.  Enjoy!

2 comments:

Anele said...

Do you think it could be made without the mustard? The Mr and I aren't fans of dijon mustard.

Troy Produce said...

Oh, yeah! My google search provided many recipes without it....google "warm bacon dressing" The bacony and sweet/sour (vinegary) taste is I guess what you are really looking for so you could easily just leave out the mustard. :)