Spinach Salad and other random musings

Last night I was fortunate enough to spend the evening with about 14 remarkable women. The one thing we all have in common is how different we are, and it makes for a fastastic time. We covered all the basics last night: love, sex, marriage (those three things should go together, we decided) and the importance of reducing greenhouse emissions in the coming decade.

OK, we may not have talked about emissions. Not greenhouse emissions, anyway.

So, here is a photo of three of us. The other women were busy uncorking wine so couldn't make it into the picture. Also, we took this photo for our old friend Omid Khonsari and emailed it to him in hopes he would email one back. He has not done so. Omid, are you reading this???

I made the cauliflower tart included on an earlier blog and this is how it came out.  I tried to put a heart on top but it looked more like the letter "L."  Oh well.

I'm thinking next time to eliminate the truffle oil altogether and use pie crust instead of puff pastry.  I had an unfortunate truffle oil incident recently and have developed a serious aversion to the stuff.  I know all 10 (10!!!!!) of my followers are waiting with bated breath to hear how the next one goes so I promise to let you all know.

There were lots of other fun food items as well and my best girl Emily made my WORLD FAMOUS spinach salad.  Now, some of you may be thinking to yourselves, "selves, we have never heard of Robin's world famous salad, so how can it be famous?"  It is famous, but not yet!  It has yet to be discovered and that is why it is on my blog!

In the interests of full disclosure, this recipe was not invented by me.  Once I have cooked something for over 30 guests (this does not have to happen in one sitting), I call it mine.  Even though it isn't.  I hope nobody sues me for copyright infringement but if they do I plan to pull out the Fair Use Doctrine and hit them over the head with it.  The recipe appears at the end of this blog entry.  If you try it once you will NEVER go back to your old spinach salad recipe.  Assuming you have one, of course, which every civilized person should.

Finally, those of you that know me probably also know my dog Margot.  Margot is the sweetest dog in the world and loves everybody.  Everybody, that is, except Mike.  Mike is my contractor's sheetrock sub, and Mike looks like your everyday average sheetrock guy, whatever that means.  But Mike affects Margot in a very strange and bad, bad way.  Every time he comes in our home, she goes after him.  She barks, she growls, she bares her teeth like Gloria Alred if you try to get between her and a camera.  We are talking mean.

This has led me to believe that Margot can sense something evil about this man...he is off, somehow.  Tom and I (OK, it was really mostly me) came to the conclusion that Mike Sheetrock Guy is a serial killer.  Or something else sinister-like (a Republican perchance?).   He's got the perfect job to effectuate his serial-killer-career, as he can just bring his victims to his jobsites to get rid of their bodies!  I think there may be something besides a new shower going into my bathroom, and I don't like it, but I can't call the police and report him because I don't want to end up in someone else's kitchen wall.

Don't give me a hard time about it.  Not everyone is supposed to be a hero.  But I did save a guy's life from drowning in Mexico once, so karma is on my side.  True story.  Maybe I'll blog about it some day, if you're lucky.

Salad Sevillana
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 10-ounce package ready-to-use spinach leaves or 1 pound fresh spinach, stemmed
1 8-ounce can Spanish artichoke hearts, drained, quartered
4 bacon slices, fried until crisp, broken into pieces
2 hard-boiled eggs, thinly sliced

Combine first 8 ingredients in blender or processor and blend until well combined and frothy. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Combine spinach, artichoke hearts, bacon and eggs in large bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat generously. Divide among 4 plates and serve.


Bon Appétit