Spinach Salad

Today my husband and I made a spinach salad for a pot luck we'll be attending.  The salad had pears, bleu cheese crumbles and candied pecans.  Then its topped with an olive oil and vinegar dressing.  Since we'd never done candied pecans before, we experimented a little and ended up enjoying the end result.  Now we know how to make it for next time. 

Here's how to prepare the salad and how to make your own candied pecans:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  We used about 1 cup of pecans.  Take 1 egg and separate it, only using the egg white.  Mix the egg white with 1 T. of warm water. Take pecans and mix in bowl of egg white and water, coating the nuts.  In a separate zip lock, mix together sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon.  How much depends on how many pecans you are using.  Then take your coated pecans and pour in sugar mixture.  Make sure all pecans are coated, then pour on baking sheet into one layer. 

The pecans, after being coated in the egg wash and sugar mixture.  Now they're ready to bake.

Bake for about 25 minutes, turning after 10 minutes of baking.  Let cool, then take a knife or spatula and cut into small pieces.  Add to salad. 

Wash and cut spinach.  Slice 1 pear into small slices.  Toss together with bleu cheese crumbles and candied pecans.  Coat in dressing.  We used Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar.