Roasted Shrimp Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
This Roasted Shrimp Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Honey Dijon Vinaigrette is loaded with quinoa, roasted peppers, crispy bacon and the best dressing! Perfect for weekly meal prep too!
Ingredients
Salad
- 25 jumbo/colossal shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- 1 bag (12-16 oz bag) of fresh spinach, cleaned
- 20 stalks of asparagus (bottoms trimmed)
- 2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa, warmed
- 8 slices crispy thick cut bacon
- 2 whole roasted red peppers, rough chopped
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. divided
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
Warm Bacon Honey Dijon Vinaigrette (this will make extra!)
- 1/3 cup honey (can use less if you like it less sweet)
- 3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 6 slices thick cut bacon, crispy and cut into 1” pieces plus 3 tablespoon of reserved bacon drippings (warmed)
- 1 medium shallot, minced
- 2 tablespoon of olive oil (if the vinaigrette it too thick)
Instructions
Roast the Shrimp and Asparagus
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place the asparagus in a single layer one of the pans. Drizzle with 2 tablespoon olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Mix to coat evenly and bake for 15 minutes. While the asparagus is baking put the shrimp in a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon olive, 3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Place the shrimp on the other baking pan in a single layer. At the end of 15 minutes, place the shrimp pan into the oven with the asparagus and bake for another 5-8 minutes or until the shrimp is pink, firm and cooked through. The asparagus should be tender but have slight firmness to it. Remove from the oven. Chop up the asparagus into bite-sized pieces.
Prepare the dressing
- In the bacon drippings saute the shallot until translucent.
- In a bowl add the honey, Dijon mustard, vinegar and the bacon drippings and shallots. Whisk to combine.
- Stir in the chopped bacon. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week.
Assemble
- In 5 bowls divide the spinach and then sprinkle ½ cup of quinoa over top. Next top each salad with asparagus pieces, roasted red peppers and 5 shrimp per salad. If eating right away, drizzle over the warmed bacon honey Dijon vinaigrette. If not, to serve later simply reheat the dressing in the microwave for a few seconds and then drizzle over.