Thursday, September 17, 2015

Spinach Salad



I was raised on Popeye and Huckleberry Hound cartoons, and the former made quite an impression. Every time I'd watch Popeye gain great strength from downing a can of spinach, I was in awe. One day while shopping with my mother I spotted a can of spinach in the grocery store, and begged her to buy it. She balked, but I assured her that it would not go to waste, that I wanted to be strong like Popeye and would eat the entire can. There had to be a lot of inward eye rolling on her part when she put it into the cart, but she indulged me and that evening heated it through and mounded a serving onto my plate. I was aghast! This slimy, green mess looked more like something that we used to scrape off of the bottom of the boat at season's end than something I'd actually want to eat, and I'm sorry to say I didn't even try it.

Fast forward about ten years when bridge parties and spinach salads were all the rage, and once again I found a serving of spinach set before me, but this time I ate it hungrily. The spinach salad has taken on many forms since then, some quite complex, but none of them as good as the '70's original, served by bridge party hostesses everywhere. I found my mother's cryptically written recipe, managed a successful decoding, and offer it here. It is nutritious, and sooooo good.
Spinach Salad

1-1/2 lbs. fresh baby spinach, washed and spun dry
¼ cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 hard cooked eggs, chopped

Dressing
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon Tabasco
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
½ cup mayonnaise

Combine spinach, onion, celery, cheese, and egg; toss gently to combine.

Combine dressing ingredients in the order listed.  Pour over salad, toss to combine, and serve immediately.
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9 comments:

martinealison said...

Bonjour chère amie,

Une salade qui me séduit énormément et je suis certaine qu'elle doit être succulente rien qu'à admirer vos photos.

Gros bisous ♡

Linda said...

That looks so good - the dressing recipe sounds great!
Canned spinach used to be a regular on our school cafeteria menu. On those days the cafeteria ladies set out a little cruet of vinegar, but really, nothing helped. ;)

Carole said...

Pattie, I hope you bring this over to Food on friday. Cheers from carole's Chatter

Lori E said...

I would still be sitting at the dinner table with that slimy mound in front of me to this day. Blech.
I do love the fresh spinach salads though. Yours is similar to what I often ordered in restaurants. The only difference I see is that ours always had a bit of crumbled bacon and didn't have any celery.
The newer version of the spinach salad that is one of my all time favourite salads is the one with strawberries and a poppy seed dressing.
Mmmm food.... I haven't had my breakfast yet, can you tell?

Unknown said...

I love a good spinach salad...YUMMY!

Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

AnnMarie aka Vintage Junkie aka NaNa said...

This looks delish and I must try it....I love spinach salad. Thanks for sharing!

Julie's Lifestyle said...

Hi there, I too love a good spinach salad.
Thanks for sharing your moms recipe to make it.
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J&J.
We hope to see you again.
Julie

Natasha in Oz said...

Looks delicious! Thanks for linking up to the Sundays Down under linky party. I just gave your post a +1 on Google.

Cindy @ Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home said...

Looks Yummy!
Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY!
Blessings,
Cindy