This is another one of those BYU cooking class recipes. The original recipe says to marinate 1 1/2 c. thinly sliced mushrooms in the dressing for a while before mixing them into the salad with the dressing, but I still despise mushrooms, so I put in toasted almonds instead. But if mushrooms are your thing, feel free to take that route! It also calls for 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced (which I didn't use this time around). This is one of my favorite salads...so yummy.
1 large pkg. spinach, coarsely chopped
3/4 lb. grated Swiss cheese
3/4 lb. cooked and crumbled bacon
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
3/4 c. toasted almond slivers
Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. If you have a glass salad bowl, layering the ingredients creates a very pretty effect. I like to spoon the cottage cheese over the spinach, then top with the remaining ingredients and repeat the layers.
Poppy Seed Dressing
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. grated onion (not dry onion. Use actual onion and grate.)
3/4 c. oil
1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
Combine all ingredients except oil and poppy seeds. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Slowly whisk in oil and beat well. Stir in poppy seeds. Cover and chill. Start by topping the salad with 2/3 of the dressing mixture and add more as desired.
**Note: this salad needs to be served right away since the dressing and cottage cheese will make the spinach wilt. We ate it with rolls for dinner one night and used it as a main dish, or you could obviously cut the recipe down to make the amount you need.
