Spinach & Bacon Salad with Homemade Tarragon Dressing

Tue, 11/19/2024 - 03:54

If you’ve never made a warm bacon vinaigrette and poured it over a salad that is packed full of other powerful and complementary flavors, you are missing out on a very important thing in life. Warm bacon vinaigrette over a spinach salad should definitely be on your food bucket list. And you should cross that one off as soon as you possibly can!

 Prep Time: 15minutes minutes          Cook Time: 19minutes minutes         Total Time: 34minutes minutes          Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. clamshell baby spinach leaves
  • 8 slices cooked bacon crumbled with 3 Tbsp drippings reserved
  • 1 small red onion thinly sliced
  • 4 hard boiled eggs sliced
  • 3 oz. crumbled blue cheese
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Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus ) Essential Oil

Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus ) has long been used in traditional Asian medicine, mainly in Iran, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and India. It is known as a spice species in Asia, Europe and the Americas.

The name Artemisia dracunculus is derived from the Latin word “dracunculus” meaning “a small dragon”, and refers to the shape of the leaves, which resemble dragon tongues. However intimidating the name, Tarragon was recommended by the Arab healer Avecenna for bad digestion. Tarragon was introduced to Europe by the Crusaders returning from the Middle East.

The main component of the raw materials, i.e. herb and leaves, is essential oil. The composition of A. dracunculus essential oil depends, inter alia, on the location of the cultivation site, the salinity of the soil and the age of the plant. The highest concentrations of the essential oil are observed at the beginning of leaf budding and at the beginning of flowering.