Warm Balsamic Fig Salad

I really shouldn’t even be posting this recipe on this blog. It’s one of those things that takes so little effort that it’s a Plan D meal, for those nights when you’re so hungry that cooking is impossible and even waiting for the delivery guy seems unbearable. This balsamic fig salad is a staple in my kitchen whenever it’s fresh fig season (at least when I’m not baking those figs into cake), precisely because it requires 6 ingredients and 10 minutes to make.

Growing up, we ate a wide variety of fruits (probably because my parents were/are obsessed with an Asian market near our house, which sells every fruit/vegetable known to mankind). But somehow, we never had fresh figs. And since I was an ignorant child who thought that the world of dried fruit started and ended with the dreaded raisin (UGH.), I had never tried a fig until very recently.

Man, had I been missing out! Figs are luscious and sweet, and when fresh, they taste floral and almost like honey. The seeds provide an interesting crunchy texture, and they’re equally good savory or sweet. I love them when they’re prepared as in this salad, cooked a bit with balsamic so that the sugar in the figs caramelizes and the vinegar becomes syrupy but still retains some of its acidic bite.

The balsamic figs are simple enough that literally anyone on their worst day could make them, but elegant enough for a dinner party. You could serve them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and wow your guests with a fancy dessert, or you could impress them early on in the meal by tossing the figs with spinach, bacon, walnuts and blue cheese. I highly recommend either route, and it can be our little secret how easy it was to put together …

Warm Balsamic Fig Salad
Serves 1

– 1 slice bacon, diced

– 6-7 fresh figs, halved

– 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

– 2 cups baby spinach, washed and dried

– 1 ounce blue cheese (I used Saint Agur, but any will do)

– 1/4 ounce walnut halves (optional: toast them on medium-low heat in a dry skillet for 5-7 minutes before adding)

1) In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove the crumbles and set aside to cool.

2) Drain as much of the bacon fat as possible, then arrange the figs cut-side down in the skillet. Add the balsamic vinegar, and cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Then flip the figs and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, until the figs have softened and the vinegar has thickened to a syrup.

2) In a bowl, arrange the baby spinach leaves, blue cheese and walnut halves. Add the sauteed figs, as well as the balsamic syrup. Top with the bacon crumbles and serve immediately.