Spinach and Arugula Salad with Fig and Pancetta

Spinach and Arugula Salad with fig and pancetta is the perfect salad to serve with any dish. If you don't like salad with your meals, this will make you change your mind. The sweetness of the fig and the savory of the pancetta goes well with the peppery bitterness of the spinach and arugula. Just add a little goat or feta cheese with a little balsamic vinaigrette dressing and your mouth will sing with flavors. Come on, just try it! Your taste buds will thank you.

My love Adam and I were grilling steaks the other night. It wasn't a special occasion or anything, we just felt like having something nice to eat for dinner. Steak dinners come very few and far in between when you are trying to save a buck. We usually go out for that sort of meal, but we decided to stay in and relax. Since we were having steaks, I thought of what to serve with them. A nice baked potato with butter and sour cream, a salad maybe? Not just any plain salad though, a salad that is filled full of flavors that will compliment those juicy rib eyes. The first thing that came to my mind was a spinach and arugula salad. The bitterness with the hint of pepper in the salad would go very well those nice rib eyes. I wanted to add a little sweet and savory to make those flavors of the salad pop. I thought of figs and pancetta. The sweetness of the fig fruit and the saltiness of the pancetta is perfect for the salad. The bits of fig not only gives the salad some sweetness but it also adds a little bite. Of course figs are not in season, they are usually a fall fruit. So when I was at the store, all I could find was the dried fruit. The dried figs makes the salad taste like its got bits of fig cookies in it, which I love fig cookies...love them. The saltiness of the pancetta in the salad, well...all I can say, it taste like bacon. Who loves bacon? I do! Just added diced tomato because it's a salad and instead of cheddar cheese, I added feta. Drizzled a little balsamic vinaigrette dressing and sprinkled a little basil and parsley on top for garnish. It was by far the best salad I have ever made. I'm telling you, this was so good that it was gone in a flash.

Here's the recipe:

Total time: 15 minutes
Serves: 8

2 cups of spinach
2 cups of arugula
1 (8 oz) pack of dried figs or 1 fig fruit (quartered)
8 slices of pancetta or bacon (cooked)
1 large tomato (diced)
2 tbsp of basil (chopped)
2 tbsp of parsley (chopped)
1 cup of feta or goat cheese
balsamic vinaigrette dressing

The first thing I did was wash my spinach and arugula under cold water lightly and patted them dry.While my spinach and arugula was drying off, I took out my non stick skillet and put it over medium high heat. Waited until the pan was hot and added my slices of pancetta in and cooked them until they were crispy. Placed them onto a plate lined with paper towel to soak up some of the grease.

Next I grabbed my dried off spinach and arugula leaves and poured them into a large serving bowl. Got my 8 oz package of dried figs, quartered them, and through them in the salad. Ate a few pieces while I was quartering them, nothing wrong with that, right? Took 1 large tomato out, diced it into good sized pieces, and through it in. Crumbled the crispy pancetta and put it into the salad. Put in 1 cup of feta cheese and gave the salad a good toss. Covered the serving bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to let the flavors marinate. *You do not want to put the dressing in before you put it in the refrigerator or the spinach and arugula leaves will droop and the salad will be soggy. Yuck!

After a couple of hours marinating and chilling in the refrigerator, took it out and drizzled balsamic vinaigrette dressing on top. Garnished it with chopped basil and parsley to make it look pretty. Served it along side those tasty juicy steaks and had us a wonderful yummy dinner. It was a perfect meal for the end of a perfect day. We don't get meals like this very often, but when we do, it is out of this world.

Now take a bite and Enjoy!

Yum!