Hot Bacon Spinach Salad

This was a pre-op favorite of mine - I've recreated the recipe to make a little lighter and more nutritious than the Pennsylvania Dutch original!

Growing up, this was always called Hot Lettuce. Here in PA Dutch country everyone knows what that means. It's a simple cooked dressing served over a salad of iceberg lettuce, hard boiled eggs, and onions. The dressing is made with bacon drippings, sugar, vinegar, and egg. Sounds weird, tastes delicious!

Of course to remake this recipe bariatric friendly, the sugar had to go. You can use stevia or Splenda in place of the sugar. Center cut bacon is a great swap for regular cuts of bacon because it renders less fat. You definitely need the bacon drippings for this recipe but this cuts down on the amount. You still get the flavor without excess fat. I know some of you are thinking, "Bacon drippings? How is that weight loss friendly?" And yes, I know. Just remember that this is a dressing to add flavor to your salad, you're not going to be drinking it or taking in a ton of it at one time. Two tablespoons will do ya. This falls into my "everything in moderation" mantra and as long as you don't go overboard, this can be enjoyed every once in awhile.

I also swapped out spinach in place of the traditional iceberg lettuce. Iceberg seriously has little to no nutritional value, and when you have a smaller stomach and can only take in so much at a meal, nutrition matters! This is a nice salad for lunch or dinner, with some added protein from the hard boiled eggs and bacon.