Antipasto Salad & Seafood Pasta

We had some good friends over the other night, and I decided to try out a couple new dishes.  Edwin always gets nervous when I try out new dishes on other people.  He says, "What if it doesn't turn out right?  It's better to try it out on ourselves first."  I remember we actually had a fight once because I wanted to make a brisket for Easter one year for our friends.  This was a PRE-COOKED brisket from HEB, and all you had to do was pop it into the oven!  My stubbornness won over, and luckily so did the brisket.  Recently he hasn't had many objections to my experimental cooking on others; maybe because he's realizing that he can't bite the hand that feeds him...and be fed!

The menu for the night: Antipasto Salad, Seafood Pasta, and Garlic Bread. 

Antipasto Salad: If you live in Austin and have ever been to Mandola's, you probably know about their Antipasto Salad.  It is phenomenal.  My husband, the non-salad eater, loves this salad (yes, it is dripping in dressing).  I tried to replicate this dish that night, even finding the perfect Garlic-Parmesan dressing.  The salad is big and hearty, so get ready for this laundry list of ingredients: bag of greens, salami, provolone & mozzarella cheese, kidney & cannellini beans, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm (these are so neat!), roasted red peppers, and cherry tomatoes.  I mixed a little shredded parmesan in with the dressing, and I have to say it was pretty close to the original!  Mandola's includes olives, fennel, and pickled red onions in theirs, but I opted out of these ingredients.

Seafood Pasta: My sister sent me this recipe a couple weeks ago, and coincidentally it was from Jaden Hair from Steamy Kitchen!  She had posted a recipe on http://thepioneerwoman.com (who is awesome!), and right away I knew I had to make it.  I used both scallops and shrimp, and I learned quite a lesson in how to sear a scallop.  She has some great step-by-step photos and tips that walk you through the recipe, but unfortunately my stove had a mind of its own.  After the smoke detectors went off, it turned out that all the seafood came out okay.  Whew!  You can check out the recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/2010/01/scallops-n-pasta/  Hers is much prettier than mine. :) 

Garlic Bread: I didn't take a picture of the bread, but here's the recipe I used, courtesy of Mr. Bobby Flay: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/garlic-bread-recipe/index.html.  A lesson I learned from this is don't skimp on the butter!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend full of holidays to celebrate.  I was lucky enough to have another reason to celebrate~ Edwin and I celebrated 6-months, that's right 6 whole months, of marriage!  Did I cook him dinner?  Did he take me out?  Neither!...we had pizza and wings from Papa John's!