• 14 ounces baby spinach, cleaned and dried
• ¼ lb Hempler’s Bacon, cut into lardons
• 1 lb shitake (or button) mushrooms; cleaned, trimmed and sliced
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 Tablespoons Red wine vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• ¼ cup bourbon
• 10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• ½ cup toasted pecans
• 2 hard boiled eggs for garnish (optional)

Place spinach in a large salad bowl. Place bacon lardons in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Render bacon until crispy and remove from pan leaving bacon grease behind. Set bacon aside. Add mushrooms to pan, along with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and allow to cook until moisture is evaporated and mushrooms are nicely browned.
Season with salt and pepper. Add sliced onion to mushrooms and allow to cook until softened and slightly browned.  Add vinegar, honey and mustard and mix to blend. Add bourbon and swirl pan. Tip slightly to ignite. (If using an electric stove, ignite with long lighter) Swirl pan to allow flame to completely extinguish.

Pour dressing over spinach along with tomatoes, bacon and pecans. Divide salads onto plates and garnish with hard-boiled egg halves. Serve immediately.

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