My kids LOVE this salad and ask for it frequently. Several years ago I was given the recipe at a Meijer sample the day. We have made a few changes to that original recipe for our family, and occasionally use different ingredients.. Sometimes we use real onion, sometimes dried minced onion. Sometimes I make real bacon, but usually I don't always have some on hand, and use bacon bits. This salad can easily be adapted to your own tastes and preferences.
For this batch of salad, I used real bacon. I like to make it using the perfect bacon method. It is so easy, and a lot less messy than frying it on the stove.
In a mixing bowl I added
6-8 slices of bacon cut into small pieces (or bacon bits if you prefer)
a half of red onion sliced and cut into small pieces (you can also used dried,minced onion)
a half can of crushed pineapple with a little bit of the pineapple juice
While I was getting the ingredients ready, I was also making a pot of rice.. I used 2 cups of water and rice which makes 4 servings.
Add the rice to the other ingredients, and mix well.
If you prefer, add the spinach to the rice mixture in the mixing bowl We used to do it that way, but it sometimes made the spinach wilty if there were any leftovers. Now we prefer to add spinach to each individual bowl, that way you can have just the right amount of spinach per serving that the person eating it desires.
Now there is another option you can chose with an ingredient. You can add Italian dressing to the big bowl of rice, or to each individual bowl. We used to add it to the big bowl, but have since started just adding it to each serving. I like a lot of dressing, my son not as much. By adding to each serving, each person has the salad dressing amount to their own personal preference.
We never have leftovers anymore by doing individual servings. The last several times I have gone back for a second serving the rest of the salad was gone. My kids have been eating almost the entire bowl.
Hopefully you like it as much as we do.
