Pineapple Spinach Salad

This week I had the chance to make another one of my favorite recipes.  I am not sure where this recipe originated.  I was at Meijer (at store in my area) one day, and there was a women giving out samples of this delicious salad.  She was serving it because several of the ingredients were on sale that week.  She gave me the recipe when I asked, and it has become a family favorite ever since.

Some of the main ingredients are spinach, a can of pineapple chunks, rice, Italian dressing....

and some of this stuff!!!!  You can use actual bacon bits, but I didn't have any on hand. I fried up a few pieces and made my own.    This recipe also calls for a red onion, but I didn't have one of those on hand either.  Since half my family is not a big fan of onion, I sometimes leave it out.

I started by dumping the can of pineapple chunks (or pieces) in a mixing bowl after draining most  of the liquid. Then I then added in the bacon bits.  Some of them were  burnt slightly, but what can you do. Frying bacon is not my specialty.   This is also the step when you would add in about a 1/2 cup of red onion cut into small pieces.  In this batch, I mixed in some minced onion from the spice cabinet.  Mix together the ingredients,  allowing the flavors to blend together.

Mix in 2 cups of cooked white rice in the mixing bowl.

The recipe also  calls for a cup and a half of spinach. I say add as much or as little as you want to your liking.   When I make this salad, I admit that I don't measure.. Shhhh!

The final step... Add about 1/2 cup of Italian dressing. (or more if you are like me, and like every piece to be covered)

This salad tastes great both warm and cold.  It also is a great side dish with grilled chicken.  When I make up a batch, sometimes I eat it all alone, just because I want to..

I will be linking up this yummy salad on these linky parties HERE!