You don't win friends with salad.

Husband had the most amazing guy doing crafty for his last show: Spartan Craft Services!

The gentleman who worked the show, Abel, is really impressive. Everyday, Husband sent a photo or description of what Abel had made for them for snack to me and I just keep getting inspired (and a bit jealous). One of my favorite parts is that he posts the history of the dish which he is serving as well as the snack having excellent presentation.

One of the first things that Husband requested me to attempt to copycat (which is a bit difficult as I didn't get to taste it, but easier as Abel gave the basic rundown of ingredients to Husband) was his Orange Juice Reduction Salad Dressing over a bed of Spinach and fruit.

The ingredients that Husband gave me were as follows: OJ with sugar and cornstarch then blended with apple cider vinegar, Serrano pepper, and a bit of mustard.

I found this dressing recipe from the Barefoot Contessa who is certain one of my love time faves and decided to attempt to tweek it a bit to attempt to get something close to the one Husband liked so much.

Failed Attempts at Copying
Ingredients

3 tablespoons good apple cider vinegar 
1 teaspoon grated orange zest 
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice 
2 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup 
1 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt 
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
2/3 cup good olive oil 

Serrano pepper - roasted black

Method

Whisk together the vinegar, orange zest, orange juice, mustard, maple syrup, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. 

Mash the Serrano into a paste with a fork and, depending on the size of pepper, add teaspoon at a time to taste in the whisked dressing.

Slowly whisk in the olive oil. 

Allow to infuse over night to encourage flavor blending, but for this reason, be delicate with the Serrano.

To roast the Serrano black and soft:

I either pull out my George Foreman and cook it on high on that until the outside is black and crispy, or just blacken it on the grills of my stove top. After it is nice and black, I throw it in a ziploc to it soft/slow cooks itself and gets nice and soft.  

Leave off Chicken if you are going vegetarian. :)

I ended up adding like 4 small Serranos. I didn't really mean to...BUT a spicy salad was kinda great. The dressing was like burning sweet and tangy. I think that next time I make this dressing it will only be 1 pepper, but it might make it's way back up to 2 after trying it not spicy.

Until the next meal...

**Today's title comes from Homer Simpson.**