A terrific Sunday night supper

When I was a child, we had Sunday supper on the screened-in front porch in the summer, and in front of the fireplace, on a tea cart, in the winter. It was a light meal in what was basically a meat-and-potatoes household. Sometimes a cheese strata, or spinach soufflé. I can’t remember what else—I suppose casseroles--but those suppers are a treasured memory.

Tonight, Elizabeth and I had a Sunday supper my mom would have been proud to serve. Poached eggs on salads and other things are all the rage these days, and the newspaper the other day had recipes for stacked dishes with poached eggs on top. One that appealed to me had polenta topped with spinach, sautéed cherry tomatoes, and an egg or two. Problem: Elizabeth can’t eat corn, so no polenta, and she doesn’t like tomatoes.

She was intrigued by one that had roasted potato salad, topped with eggs, so I made a combination. And it was wonderful—we both cleaned our plates.

Potato salad, spinach and eggs

1-1/2 lbs. fingerling potatoes, washed and halved (I couldn’t find fingerlings and used baby Yukon Gold, diced)

Four slices bacon
2 bunches fresh spinach
Lemon juice and Dijon mustard
Eight eggs

Fry the bacon until crisp. Drain.

Toss the potatoes with 1 Tbsp. bacon grease and roast at 450 for 30 minutes. Discard or save remaining grease—I keep a small jar of pure bacon grease in the fridge, after years of discarding it. There are a few dishes that really need it.
Wash, stem and wilt the spinach. I tried to chop it up a bit too when I drained it.
When potatoes are done, season with lemon juice and Dijon—perhaps one lemon and 2 tsp. Dijon, more to taste.
Put potatoes on plates. Top with servings of spinach. Salt the spinach lightly.
Poach eggs and gently top the potato/spinach mixture. We both like them sort of runny, but do them the way you like. Serve salt and pepper for the eggs.

Serves four (I halved it).

Enjoy. It was one of the best meals either of us have had in a long time. We agreed it would also make a great brunch dish. Once again, we got so excited about eating, we forgot pictures, but it was pretty too. And we ate on the front porch, in lovely, wet, seventy-degree weather.