Warm Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad!

I found this little gem today on primal-palate.com and my mouth immediately began to salivate. Fancy salads have been a minor obsession lately. Mendocino Farms and Tender Greens being some favorite lunch spots. Check these places out or… make this one at home. So easy and delicious. (duh, there’s bacon in it)

3 cups peeled and diced sweet potatoes

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 apple diced

8 strips of bacon, diced

2 leeks, thinly sliced

6 oz of fresh baby spinach

Handful of sliced almonds for garnish

¼ cup olive oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp spicy brown mustard (from Trader Joe’s)

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 tbsp of dried basil

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Preheat your oven to 400.  Toss the diced sweet potatoes with the coconut oil and spread evenly on a baking sheet.  Bake in your preheated oven for 20 minutes.  While the sweet potatoes are baking, cook the diced bacon in a large skillet.  Once the bacon is crispy, add the sliced leeks in with the bacon and saute for another 4-5 minutes.  Put your spinach in a large salad bowl and add the bacon and leek mixture. Toss well, letting the warm bacon wilt the spinach.  Add the apples and sweet potatoes to the salad and toss together.  In a separate bowl whisk together the salad dressing ingredients.  Pour over the salad, mix well and garnish with the sliced almonds.