Spinach Salad

(This recipe was first posted in conjunction with the Meijer Ad Week of 2/19/12 - 2/25/12)

I've tried quite a few different spinach salad recipes, but this basic one is still my favorite!

Ingredients:

Salad:
1 - 10 oz bag baby spinach
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped
1 tomato, diced
Dressing:
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup ketchup
1 small onion, grated
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt

Directions:
Mix all dressing ingredients together.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours to allow flavors to blend.  Layer or toss salad ingredients.  Stir or shake dressing again before serving over salad.

Options and Tips

• Prep everything ahead:  cook and crumble the bacon, slice the mushrooms, boil and chop the eggs, dice the tomato.  Then put it all in the fridge in individual ziploc bags or containers.  This way you can throw it all together with the lettuce right before serving in less than a minute!
• 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp dry minced onion can be substituted for the fresh onion in the dressing.
• Here's a math problem for you:  How long does it takes to clean almost 2 cups of red, oil-based salad dressing off six cupboard doors and a kitchen floor?  Feel free to experiment if you want to figure out the answer!  :)  (I use a Tupperware shaker to mix and store the dressing. As I was putting the cover on one time, it somehow managed to shoot out of my hands...I still haven't figured out how!) 
• Add cooked chicken to turn this into an entree salad.
• These ingredients make a great wrap!  Toss everything together (add cooked chicken if desired) with some dressing and put a large scoop on each flour tortilla (plain or flavored).  Roll up the tortillas and serve with additional dressing for dipping.

This recipe can be found on page 42 of Trinity PRC's "Tasteful Traditions" cookbook.  It was submitted by Elizabeth Vink as "Angie's".