Wilted Spinach Salad with Caramelized Shallots, Spinach, and Rice

I have to share the yummiest salad we had tonight. Our boys were both exhausted this afternoon, so we fed them a quick dinner and made our own dinner after they were asleep (at 6:30 p.m. - they were so wiped out). Here’s the background on tonight’s dinner…

Ben went kayaking/fishing early this morning and caught a coho salmon in Lake Michigan. He was so, so happy to catch a fish!

So we did! We rubbed the filets with a little olive oil, some Lake Shore Drive seasoning from The Spice House, and some crushed fresh garlic and baked it on 400 for about 25 minutes. We also made rice and the yummiest spinach salad. Here’s the recipe (from the May 2010 of Martha’s Food magazine):

1. In a large skillet, heat 4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil over medium high. Add 4 large shallots, minced, and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. Season with coarse salt and pepper.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring, until shallots are sticky and browned, about 8 minutes. Add 1 Tbs water and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from skillet, until shallots are dark brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Remove skillet from heat; add 1 tsp whole-grain mustard and 2 tsp red-wine vinegar and stir to combine. In a large bowl, place 1 bag (10 oz) baby spinach and pour warm dressing over the top. Toss and season with salt and pepper. Serves 4.

*Sarah’s note – I added the mustard and vinegar in step 3, then threw the spinach into the pan to mix it all around. This way it soaked up some of the olive oil and the juicy bits from the caramelized shallots to make it more salad-like. It was so delicious!