This is the salad I served with the ragu. I took my standard balsamic vinegar and pork-fat (oh, that sounds so crude) spinach salad and added dice Macintosh apples and toasted pinenuts and seasoned it with salt and pepper.
Start with some spinach or mixed greens. I used baby spinach and rocket in this case.
Toast some pinenuts and dice some apples. Add them to the spinach.
Melt some pork-fat until it's very hot. I think olive oil could be substituted, though the flavor would be different. You don't need a lot. Just enough to pour over the spinach to wilt it slightly. Toss the spinach to distribute the hot fat or oil.
Add about an equal amount of balsamic vinegar and toss.
Season with salt (preferably kosher or sea salt) and pepper to taste.
I don't have amounts for this. To serve me and my husband, I guess I used two big handfuls of greens, and about 1/16th cup of pork fat and a little less than 1/8 a cup of vinegar.
Pork fat is the BEST for flavor and nutrition :)
Posted by: pty_cooking_diva | December 19, 2004 at 09:17 AM