BBC&A Salad with Caramelized Onions & Grilled Chicken

Bacon, Blue Cheese & Apple Spinach Salad

Mmm, a simple salad to put together and who doesn't love the combo of blue cheese, apple, caramelized onions & bacon.  You could change up the ingredients based on what you have on hand.  I'm sure some toasted pecans or avocado would have been lovely.  Here's what I used:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh spinach
• 1 apple, cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 slices bacon
• 2 grilled chicken breasts cut into chunks
• 3T red wine vinegar
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• *optional, toasted pecans, avocado chunks :)

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, pile fresh spinach, apple chunks, blue cheese crumbles and chunks of grilled rosemary chicken.  (Prepare the chicken however you like.  I used: balsamic, extra virgin olive oil, garlic salt, kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, dash of red pepper flakes, 2T dried rosemary for my chicken marinade), here's another possibility.)  Season salad with fresh black pepper and kosher salt.  Set aside. 

Cut 3 strips of bacon into 1/2" pieces.  In a skillet, cook the bacon rendering the fat, over medium to medium high heat.  Remove the cooked bacon and set aside on a paper towel.  Saute thinly sliced red onion in the bacon goodness.  Add 3T red wine vinegar and fresh cracked black pepper, creating a nice vinaigrette, and voila :) drizzle over your salad and enjoy!  The warm vin wilts the spinach in a nice kind of way, don't forget to top with your bacon crumbles.