Apple Bacon Spinach Salad

The week after sixty. The first Monday after my birthday I took my coffee to the porch and looked at the trees and thought about how my mother had been forty when I was sixty. That is to say, when she was forty I was sixteen, and at sixteen I had thought my mother was old, and at sixty I do not think my mother was old at forty, I think she was a young woman who had had me at twenty-four, and at sixty I am looking back at sixteen-year-old Carmen and forty-year-old Luz María, both of us in the same kitchen in 1981 in Bayamón, neither of us understanding what was coming, and my heart is full and breaking simultaneously.

Tuesday food bank: arroz con pollo. Yolanda lead. The fall cohort had taken on a momentum. Marcus was in there making everything. Mr. Patterson was greeting and chopping. Brian was running everything. I was sometimes redundant. I sat on the stool at the counter and tasted things and tried not to over-direct. Yolanda was my version. She would be a teacher. The training was complete in body, almost. Spring 2026 she leads.

Wednesday La Cocina cohort 2 week three: stewed meats. The class was solid. Hector asked if I could write down the recipes. I said, "Hector, the recipes are in my hands." He said, "Mrs. Carmen, my hands do not have them yet." I said, "Hector, I will give you a paper version when the class ends. We will review it together. The paper is a draft. The hands are the final." He nodded.

Thursday Mami had a stretch of confusion. She did not know me for an hour. Then she did. She said, "Carmen, you came back." I said, "Mami, I never left." She said, "I went somewhere." I said, "Mami, where?" She said, "I do not know. I came back." I sat with her. We did not say much. I held her hand. She fell asleep.

Sunday dinner: family. Twelve. I made the pernil. Sofía was supposed to make the pernil but she had a hard rotation week and asked if she could just bring a salad. I said, "Mija, of course." I made the pernil. The crackling was right. I felt sixty for the first time when I lifted the roasting pan out of the oven — a moment of recognition that the pan was heavy in a way it had not been at fifty. Eduardo lifted the second pan. He had been waiting all his life to lift the second pan when I gave him the signal. Wepa.

When Sofía asked if she could just bring a salad, I said yes without a second thought — she had earned that grace after her rotation week, and honestly, a table of twelve needs something cool and bright alongside the pernil. She made this one, and it landed right: the apple cutting through the richness, the bacon giving it enough weight to belong. Eduardo lifted the heavy pan and Sofía brought the salad, and that is exactly how a family dinner is supposed to work at sixty.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

6 cups fresh baby spinach, washed and dried
2 medium crisp apples (such as Honeycrisp or Fuji), cored and thinly sliced
6 strips thick-cut bacon
1/3 cup crumbled gorgonzola or feta cheese
1/4 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Cook the bacon. In a skillet over medium heat, cook bacon strips until crisp, about 8–10 minutes, turning once. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Once cool, crumble or chop into bite-size pieces.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the apple cider vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking constantly until the dressing is emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Prep the apples. Slice apples just before assembling to prevent browning. If making ahead, toss slices lightly in a bit of lemon juice.
Assemble the salad. In a large serving bowl, layer the spinach as a base. Arrange apple slices, crumbled bacon, red onion, and toasted nuts over the top. Scatter the cheese evenly.
Dress and serve. Drizzle dressing over the salad just before serving and toss gently to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Apple Bacon Spinach Salad — The Salad Sofía Brought So I Could Make the Pernil