Spinach Salad with Cajun Pecans and Poppy Seed Dressing

Have a holiday party coming up and you've been selected to bring a salad? Well this is an easy yet, knock-your-socks off of recipe.  Most of it can be done days in advance so you aren't in a time crunch running out the door.  I brought it to a book club last week and it was a hit.  The dressing is homemade, but very easy if you have a food processor or blender. Also, the recipe makes a TON more dressing than needed for the salad so you will have it for weeks in your fridge.

This recipe was first posted on Tutto Bella Blog.  I was so excited when these three sisters reached out to me to do a guest post.  Their blog is a compilation of weddings, parties, fashion, decor and DIY (and everything in between).  It's truly a great place to get ideas and just raise your spirits! Check them out here!

Ingredients:


-2 bags baby spinach salad
-8 ounces pecans
-1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges (or two smaller ones), drained
-2 Tbsp olive oil
-2 Tbsp cajun seasoning (I use Tony Chachere's)
-1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Dressing Ingredients:


-1.5 cups sugar
-1 tsp dry mustard
-3 cups (plus 1 Tbsp) vegetable oil
-1 cup apple cider vinegar
-2 Tbsp chopped white onion
-1.5 Tbsp poppy seeds

Japanese Onion Soup

When I grew up, one of my favorite dinner spots was our local Japanese Steakhouse.  You know, the place where they cook in front of you, throw knives around and you try to catch shrimp in your mouth.  One of my favorite courses was the very first one, the Japanese Onion Soup.  It was always so clean, clear but flavorful. I finally found a recipe from Meemo's Kitchen for a re-creation of this famous recipe.  I've never really fried anything but these little onion slice were easy as pie.  I imagine you could use the canned fried onions, such as French's.

Ingredients:


-4 cups chicken broth
-2 cups water
-1 white onion
-1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
-1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
-1/2 tsp salt
-6 white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
-4 green onion, chopped
-1 cup vegetable oil (for frying)
-1 cup milk
-1 cup flour

Steamed Mussels in a White Wine Saffron Broth

Mussels are usually something that grow on people.  I had one of my favorite mussel dishes at JAX and became instantly addicted.  It's called a "steamer" which basically means mussels steamed in a fabulous broth and some sort of pasta to soak up all the goodness.  This was my first shot at the dish and it was so much easier than I could have fathomed....and CHEAPER! I went to my local Whole Foods and found mussels for about $4 a pound...that's $4 a person to get incredibly full on a fancy (yet easy) meal! Basically one pound will fill a person up.  Especially if you serve with some sort of pasta and crusty toasted bread.

Ingredients:


-2-4 lbs of mussels (1 lb per person)
-6 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 white onion, chopped
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1 Tbsp butter
-3-4 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 Tbsp dried)
-1 pinch saffron threads (optional, would still be great without)
-1 cup white wine
-4 cups chicken broth
-1 Tbsp tomato paste
-2 pinches of red pepper flakes
-1pkg. pasta (I used fusilli, but any will work, linguine is a great option)
-6-10 pieces toasted french bread

The Joan Rivers Project - A Blog Face-lift

As many of you know, my career is in medical software.  Our UI (user interface) team often calls a major product redesign "The Joan Rivers Project".  Well, the time has come and Reckless Abandon has received that so-called digital face-lift.  I couldn't be happier with the final product and hope you enjoy it as well!  Here are 4 easy tips to find recipes on the site:

• Recipes by Search (to the right) - know a recipe you want to pull up again or looking to use a specific ingredient? Search the blog
• Browse Recipes (at the top) - know the name of a recipe and want to scroll alphabetically or just want to wander around? - Browse the recipes
• Labels (bottom right) - need a quick dinner or need a vegetable recipe for your dinner party on Friday night? Click on the corresponding labels
• Blog Archives (bottom right) - remember a recipe you wanted to try that was posted back in August? Go to the archives

I'd love to hear your feedback so please leave comment! If you're asking me, I think Joan would be proud! But then again, I'm somewhat biased.

Endives with Goat Cheese, Mandarin Oranges and Almonds

This is one of my first restaurant re-creations, which has become my new favorite thing to do.  It's somewhat of a challenge to guess the ingredients and see if I can recreate it.  This was an easy recipe to start with considering the menu basically listed the ingredients for me.  Each quarter we have meetings at our headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland and end up at Jaleo at least once per visit, which then turns out to be around 4-6 times a year and I'm not complaining; it's fabulous!

Ingredients:


-2 Belgium endives (found in most grocery stores near the lettuce..just ask someone)
-1 can mandarin oranges (reserve liquid)
-1 (5.3 oz) Chavrie goat's cheese
-1 small pkg sliced almonds
-2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
-sea salt and pepper to taste

Oven Baked Calamari with two Dipping Sauces

I love calamari and have always wanted to make it at home.  But I knew what that meant...cups and cups of hot oil, a fattening appetizer and a disastrous kitchen = deep frying.  I then stumbled upon a genius idea; baking calamari!  I combined a few recipes and came up with my own.  It was so easy and yummy.  The plate was gone in a matter of minutes.

Ingredients: 


-1 (10-oz) bag of frozen calamari/squid rings (can be found at many grocery stores or Asian Markets)
-2 cups Panko bread crumbs (found in the Asian food aisle)
-1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
-1 Tbsp salt
-1 Tbsp dried oregano
-1/2 cup flour
-2 egg whites
-additional salt and pepper to taste

For Dipping Sauces:


-1/4 cup jarred marinara sauce
-1/2 cup light mayo
-1/4 cup light sour cream
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
-juice from 1/2 lemon (other half cut into wedges for serving)
-Srircha to taste (if you want to make it spicy!)