Recipe Box, Roasted Sweet Potato Spinach Salad with Maple Bacon
This can be a side dish or a meal~
sometimes I want a lighter dinner than the guys
so I made chicken for them, and I just had this salad…
This salad is so appealing for this time of year,
it’s warm, yet light, and full of autumn flavors…
sweet potatoes, maple, and any time is perfect for bacon!
I prefer to cook bacon in the oven, especially maple bacon,
which is so easy to burn
Lay bacon strips on a parchment paper lined baking sheet
Bake at 350 for 15- 20 minutes,
watching carefully at the end
and drain well on paper towels
You can cook bacon several days in advance,
store in your fridge and refresh
with 20-30 seconds in the microwave before using
You can peel the sweet potatoes or leave the peel on {more nutrition!}
Cut into 1 inch pieces, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast
Try not to eat these all up before you get them in the salad,
they smell so tempting!
While potatoes are roasting
toss the pecans in a skillet with butter, brown sugar and salt
Cook over medium low heat stirring and watching carefully
After 5-7 minutes they will start to caramelize and brown.
Remove to a sheet of wax paper to cool
Make a big batch and store the rest in jars
in your pantry or freezer to have for another time
In a large bowl, place fresh spinach leaves and crispy romaine
Add warm potatoes, crumbled bacon pieces and pecans
Toss with dressing to taste
Oh! And Bleu Cheese!
Add some crumbles of bleu cheese just before tossing~
if you don’t like bleu cheese you can sub goat cheese or fresh Parmesan
or skip, this salad is wonderful with or without cheese…
Toss with Mustard and Maple Dressing,
tangy yet sweet, light and flavorful
ROASTED SWEET POTATO SPINACH SALAD with MAPLE BACON
Ingredients
- fresh spinach and romaine leaves
- 2 large sweet potatoes scrubbed and cut into cubes
- 4-6 slices maple bacon cooked and drained
- 2 oz crumbled bleu cheese or gorgonzola
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 1 T butter
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Mustard Maple Dressing
Instructions
- Place potatoes on foil lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss potatoes with fingers to coat with oil and seasonings. Roast for 30 minutes at 400 degrees or until done.
- Meanwhile cook pecans over medium low heat in a skillet with butter, brown sugar and salt. Cook and stir until caramelized and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove to a sheet of wax paper to cool.
- Place greens in a large salad bowl. Toss greens with warm potatoes, crumbled bacon, pecans and cheese. Add dressing to taste. Serves 4
Mustard Maple Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp real maple syrup
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in a small jar
- Shake well to mix
- Refrigerate for several hours to blend flavors
- Store in refrigerator for up to 1 month
- Double or triple recipe as needed
Enjoy!
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Meal Plan Monday Love Your Creativity Over the Moon
Between Naps on the Porch, Celebrate Your Story,
All About Home/ Common Ground Follow the Yellow Brick Home
Tasty Tuesday Oh My Heartsie Girl Turn About Tuesday
Full Plate Thursday Centerpiece Wednesday Creative Crafts
Thursday Favorite Things Creatively Crafty Creative Cumpulsions
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Hi Jenna, Your salad sounds delicious! I have a similar recipe that uses spinach with a warm bacon dressing. Hope both your homes are safe from Zeta. We’re getting gusty winds and sideways rain, fingers crossed power stays on! ♥
Oh Mary I have been thinking of you, as I know Zeta is knocking on your door! I fully expected to be awake all night hearing the storm and I was sure we’d loose power but we were lucky…I never even heard the wind and power didn’t even flicker. Haven’t heard about the beach yet, but fingers crossed the tarps held and all is ok. Thanks I love salads like this, stay safe!
This looks lovely, and the dressing sounds wonderful!
I love this dressing, it’s good on everything, thanks Dorothy!
Delish Jenna….I would love to have this for lunch today….stay safe from latest winds and rain. hugs
hi Kari!! Thank you, this is a delish and pretty healthy salad and one of my favorites! We got lucky in our area of Birmingham, no trees down or lost power thank goodness and I just got pics from a neighbor of our beach house in Orange Beach, and things look pretty good. We had a ton of damage already from hurricane Sally, but it looks like the tarps held on our roof which is all we were concerned about. Surely this is the last hurricane of the season!! It is such a treat to hear from you and see your smiling face, you are forever my hero!
YUMMY!!
Thanks Martha!
There are some great tips here, Jenna, in addition to what sounds like a really tasty recipe. I love raw sweet potatoes but yes, the roasting sounds perfect for this! Love the pecans, too!
Thanks Jeanie, I love this salad!
This looks so good and it is my kind of salad. I am so glad the tarps held on your beach house and no damage at your home in Birmingham. The wind woke me up and it was ferocious. Fortunately, we didn’t lose power. I did lose my huge Lady Banks Rose, but the arbor is standing. I am so thankful that was all of our damage. Others in Etowah County didn’t fare as well.
Oh no! That Lady Banks Rose 😢. My daughter, who only lives 20 minutes from me lost power for 12 hours, {but she has a generator so no biggie} and we didn’t have a flicker, isn’t that crazy! Glad you are ok mainly. We felt like we dodged 2 bullets!
This salad sounds very tasty. Pinning. But will have to substitute the bleu cheese, ha. Love the pecans and eager to try the roasted sweet potatoes in it. Yum! Glad you are safe and well and both your houses too. Enough of these storms already!!! 😕
Every time I write a recipe with bleu cheese in it, I think of you Cyndi! I know you don’t like it, but it is always easily omitted or subbed for another cheese. Yes, thank goodness we are near the end of hurricane season 🎉 I hope you have a great weekend!
The salad looks so tasty. I would love everything except the blue cheese. Sometimes a lighter dinner is just perfect. So glad the tarps held on the house. You have been through so much. Praying for some relief.
Thank you Linda, much appreciated! I know I do a lot of recipes including bleu cheese, mainly because we love the stuff, but please know that it usually can easily be eliminated or subbed for another cheese. This is one of my favorite salads, so I hope you try it! Happy Halloween!
Such a beautiful and healthy autumn dish!
One of my favs!
Oh Jenna, this salad looks delicious! You know how I love salad so I really want to make this one. I need to add some of the ingredients to my shopping list. Like you sometimes I just want a little something for dinner or lunch and this fits the bill and it has bacon, yum……….
This is one of my favorites Emily, I hope you try it!
Oh, yum, this looks so good, Jenna! Thanks for sharing it at the TFT party. I’m going to pin it and try it.
Oh good Pam, thank you, it’s one of my favorite salads!
It looks like it will become one of my favorite salads! I’ve featured it at TFT this morning. Congrats! 🙂
Thanks so much Pam!