Wilted Spinach w/Bacon & Pine Nuts

I badly needed to use up a LARGE tub of baby spinach I bought a few days ago. Normally I have about 2 cups of baby spinach and a cup of kale as my salad base every day, but for some reason I have not been in the mood for cold meals lately. Even though it's 100 degrees outside, it's fall on Facebook and I'll blame my disinterest in spinach salad on that. :-)

I hate cooked/boiled spinach, as the tinny aftertaste and slimy texture leave me wanting to vomit. Let's pretend my previous post wasn't about decadent cupcakes, and I'll act like I eat raw spinach for its health benefits, and not because cooked spinach leaves me spitting and grimacing like a 2-year-old. Besides, just know that getting Rich to eat spinach, period, would take some doing. It might even be impossible.

After some online searches, I rejected everything that came up on google and decided to go back to the basics of tricking grown men into eating leafy green vegetables: bacon. Before you get all crazy, actually READ the recipe. ;) I decided to make a butter mix that was garlicky-buttery-bacony goodness. Here goes.

6 cups baby spinach, rinsed thoroughly.

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp Hormel bacon bits

1 clove of roasted garlic (throw an unpeeled clove of garlic in the oven at 325 for 20-25 minutes, and you'll have a perfect piece of roasted garlic. Squish it out of the peel and smash it.)

2 tbsp pine nuts (put them in a pan with the roasting garlic, but only about 15 minutes. Roasting them is delish.)

Salt & pepper

Smash the garlic clove with a wide wooden spoon in the bottom of a medium-sized pot. Add the butter, and turn the heat on low. Stir until the garlic is creamy. Add the bacon bits and the spinach. Lightly salt and pepper the leaves and toss them gently until they begin to wilt. Do not overlook!!! If your spinach leaves turn that deadly dark green color, there's a 5-year-old voice inside me strongly suggesting you don't even eat it.... Lol :)

Once the greens are wilted drain off ALL excess liquid (from the washing of the greens, and extra butter!) and top with roasted pine nuts. This was a winner at our house tonight. :-)