Spinach, White Bean and Red Pepper Salad

Total time: 25 minutes
     Maple syrup adds a bit of sweetness to this putting a different spin on the traditional spinach salad.  You can substitute honey if you don't have it.  The diced red pepper are sautéed briefly in the skillet after the bacon is removed, just to soften them a little.  The salad is dressed before serving and garnished with dry, Greek Olives.

 Ingredients:

• 4oz fresh spinach, 115gr, 4oz
• 1/2 cup white beans, cannellini, 90gr, 3.2oz
• 3oz (100gr) bacon 2 - 3 strips, 23.7gr, .84oz, cooked
• 1/2 red pepper, 80gr, 2.8oz
• 1 egg, 65gr, 2.3oz
• 6 - 10 basil leaves, torn if large
• 10 - 12 leaves oregano
• 1 tsp olive oil, 4.5gr, .16oz
• Maple Vinaigrette
• 2 tbs maple syrup   substitute honey, 40gr, 1.4oz, maple syrup
• 1 tbs cider vinegar, 15gr, .53oz
• 1 tsp Dijon-style mustard, 5gr, .17oz
• 2 tbs good olive oil, 27gr, .96oz
• Greek or other olives to garnish,  optional

 Instructions:

• Hard boil eggs. 
• Chop red pepper. 
• Open, drain and rinse beans.
• Sauté bacon until crisp.  Remove, drain on paper towels and crumble. 
• Drain bacon fat from pan.  Add olive oil and red pepper and sauté briefly over medium heat, about 3 minutes,  Remove and set aside.
• Wash spinach if necessary. Tear, if needed. 
• Peel eggs when done and cut into chunks. 
• Make vinaigrette: In a small bowl mix maple syrup, vinegar and mustard.  Slowly add olive oil, whisking constantly until well combined.
• Put spinach and herbs into a large bowl.  Add dressing and toss well to coat - tongs work well. 
• Add red pepper and beans and toss well to combine. 
• Add bacon and eggs, toss once or twice to combine. 
• Arrange on 2 plates.  Garnish with olives and serve

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Nutrition Information               Recipe serves 2            Entire Recipe / per serving Calories:  781 / 390.5 Total Carbohydrates:  60 / 30           Dietary Fiber: 10 / 5 Total Fat:  58 / 29          Saturated Fat: 10 / 5 Cholesterol:  292 / 146 Protein:  28 / 14 Calcium:  269 / 134.5 Sodium:   1038 / 519

General Technical Details and Disclaimer:

Measurements are actual measurements used for calculation. If there are no values the nutritional numbers were simply too small.

I try to be accurate, but I do not guarantee it.  I use 'grams' as the unit of weight; with an approximate conversion to ounces.

My information comes from my own digital, computerized scale and the USDA Nutrient Data Library: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/