For many years now, I haven’t really turned to salads as main-course dinner fare. For lunch? Sure. But dinners always required something more substantial, especially after LeeLee and I turned vegetarian in 2001 and said goodbye to chicken salad, tuna salad, and the like, all of which had been mainstays on the dinner table.
If you’ve been hanging around Chez Recessionista for long, you’ve seen me write about this spinach salad several times before. I found this recipe over at $5 Dinners, and it’s become an instant favorite. It’s so tasty, so easy – and filling!
I put the eggs on to boil and went about cleaning the house until they’d finished and had time to cool. When LeeLee called to say he was on his way home, I put the spinach on our plates, turned the “bacon” strips on in the microwave, and began sautéing the onions. While they cooked, I made my homemade dressing (mayonnaise, olive oil, and lemon juice, spiced up with salt, pepper, and fresh dill from the garden), and by the time LeeLee walked in the door, the onions had turned a pretty translucent color and dinner was ready!
Within about 10 minutes, the plates were clean, without even one scrap of spinach left – a sure sign of success. And LeeLee even did the dishes. I’ll take it!
The stats:
Eggs: $2.75/dozen ($0.46/person)
Bacon: $3.39 ($0.85/person)
Spinach: $1.99 ($1.00/person)
Onion: $1.00 ($0.25/person)
Mushrooms: $1.99 ($0.50/person)
GRAND TOTAL: $11.12 … or $3.06 per person.
:)