Spinach & Strawberry Salad w/ Poppyseed Dressing

• On Easter sunday I made this salad and everyone loved it. I love salads with fruit so I put a little extra strawberries in there...
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• Ingredients:
• 2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 4 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
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Directions:

1. In a large bowl, toss together the spinach and strawberries.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar, paprika, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Pour over the spinach and strawberries, and toss to coat.

Spiced Red Wine-Poached Pears

So while I was looking through a holiday cook book of mine I found this poached pears recipe and it made my mouth water. This is a great holiday dessert that you definitely won't feel guilty about eating too much.

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 55m

Ingredients

• 1/2 bottle (2 cups) red wine
• 1 lemon
• 1 navel orange, quartered
• 32oz pomegranate juice (I use %100 POM juice)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split, or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cinnamon stick -If you don't have a cinnamon stick just some ground cinnamon works just fine.
• 5 cloves
• 4 small ripe pears (Bosc), peeled

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, off the heat, combine the wine, the juice from the lemon and orange, pomegranate juice, 1 of the squeezed orange quarters, the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon stick, and cloves.
2. Add the pears and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, turning the pears occasionally, until they're easily pierced with the tip of a knife, about 25 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pears to individual plates.
3. Once cool, cover and chill in refrigerator at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours, turning occasionally, if desired. Gently remove pears from liquid and allow to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, reduce liquid by about half over a medium-high flame for 15 minutes, until liquid is thicker and slightly syrupy. Remove from flame and let liquid come to room temperature. Drizzle each pear with 2 tablespoons syrup and serve.
4. Remove and discard the orange quarter and spices. Return the liquid to a simmer until syrupy and reduced by two-thirds, about 15 minutes, depending on size of pan. Spoon the sauce over the pears.

Vanilla ice cream tastes great with this recipe or I like eating them with Mascarpone cheese.