BLT Salad with Quinoa

I filed this meal under the "fantastic" section in my brain. It's like eating a BLT without the bread, mayo (gross--try a schmear of ranch or cream cheese instead), and guilt. It comes together quickly and was great leftover for my lunch. When the tomatoes are really hoppin' this summer, it will elevate this to level of tastiness I won't even be able to describe.

BLT Salad with Quinoa

-adapted slightly from tastykitchen.com

• 1-½ cup Vegetable Or Chicken Broth
• ¾ cups Dried Quinoa, Rinsed Thoroughly
• 1 pound Lean Bacon, Chopped
• 3 Tablespoons White Balsamic Vinegar (feel free to use white wine vinegar or regular balsamic instead)
• 1/4 t.  Garlic Powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/8 t.  Dried Thyme
• 1/4 t Ground Black Pepper
• 1/8 teaspoons Dried Dill
• 10 cups Fresh Spring Greens or baby spinach (this is one package approximately, so no need to measure)
• 2 cups Cherry or grape Tomatoes, Halved

Bring broth to a boil over high heat in a medium saucepan. Add quinoa and return to a boil, then reduce heat to medium high and cook quinoa for roughly 20 minutes, or until all the broth has been absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, cook chopped bacon until crisp, stirring frequently. You've got to watch this closely because bacon can go from "not quite done" to "burnt beyond recognition" in about 5 seconds. Remove cooked bacon from the pan and set aside. Drain all but 2 T. drippings from the skillet. Don't get grossed out--this is only 2 T of fat--you use way more oil in a salad dressing (also a fat, you see) for a regular salad. I just felt the need to address that. Carry on. 

With the skillet over medium-high heat, add the vinegar, garlic, salt, thyme, pepper, and dill. Stirring constantly,  heat until mixture is thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This will just a be a couple minutes. Remove from heat. In a large bowl toss together quinoa, greens, tomatoes, bacon and warm dressing. Serve immediately.