Spinach Salad

I was raised on Popeye and Huckleberry Hound cartoons, and the former made quite an impression. Every time I'd watch Popeye gain great strength from downing a can of spinach, I was in awe. One day while shopping with my mother I spotted a can of spinach in the grocery store, and begged her to buy it. She balked, but I assured her that it would not go to waste, that I wanted to be strong like Popeye and would eat the entire can. There had to be a lot of inward eye rolling on her part when she put it into the cart, but she indulged me and that evening heated it through and mounded a serving onto my plate. I was aghast! This slimy, green mess looked more like something that we used to scrape off of the bottom of the boat at season's end than something I'd actually want to eat, and I'm sorry to say I didn't even try it.

Fast forward about ten years when bridge parties and spinach salads were all the rage, and once again I found a serving of spinach set before me, but this time I ate it hungrily. The spinach salad has taken on many forms since then, some quite complex, but none of them as good as the '70's original, served by bridge party hostesses everywhere. I found my mother's cryptically written recipe, managed a successful decoding, and offer it here. It is nutritious, and sooooo good.