IHeartNigellaLawson

I was so excited today!! Why, you ask? NIGELLA LAWSON HAS AN iPHONE APP ($7.99) !! I luuuurve her; she's my favorite celebrity chef/ food personality. And for the record, I liked her way before she was on the Food Network; my lurve goes back to her early days on E! and The Style Network. Post-Great Fire of 2009, I went out and bought two of her books : Nigella Express and Forever Summer.

Recipes from these books are in heavy rotation in the CLEshopaholic household. What's so great about Nigella, you ask?
1. I don't know how she does it, but she makes her food look soooooo sensual! And not just in the pictures, it looks fantastic in real life!
2. Her recipes stand up really well to modifications (sidebar: I can't follow a recipe exactly; its why I'm a terrible baker and had a complete meltdown the night before a cookie exchange last year. Seriously, I messed up scoop and bake cookies)
3. Every recipe is FULL of flavor (you should try my adaptation below)
4. She has a British accent. Enough said.

So, here's my adaptation of Nigella's Spinach and Bacon Salad (I wish I could give you the real version, but N has packed up the study and now I don't know where he put the book).

1 cup chopped cooked chicken (if you don't have leftovers, you could use rotisserie chicken)
1 bag baby spinach
6 slices bacon, chopped (I think Nigella used 1 lb in her original recipe; put in as much as you want)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (I strongly recommend getting a good one; it make a HUGE difference)
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional : goat cheese (as much as you want)
Optional : Crutons (you can make your own or use store bought; you could also use a chopped up baguette)


Put bag of spinach in a salad bowl. Put cooled cooked chicken in same salad bowl.
In a skillet, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil and fry up bacon.
Fish out crispy bacon with a slotted spoon: DO NOT drain bacon grease. Turn off burner
Quickly pour the red wine vinegar into the skillet; the red wine-bacon grease mixture will bubble.
Once the bubbling dies down, quickly pour over salad mixture. Add bacon, goat cheese, and crutons.
Mix up and serve immediately.

The spinach may wilt slightly, but that's to be expected. So obviously, this recipe is not the healthiest, but it is super quick and easy and ridiculously yummy. ENJOY!!