Blue Cheese Dressing

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If it is possible to be in love with a salad dressing, then I am head over heels for blue cheese dressing. It is my decadent treat at home-style Italian restaurants and steakhouses. But it’s even better to make at home, because then you can ensure you get lots of blue cheese goodness, and you can eat the batch all week. This dressing not only works on salads — I recommend romaine hearts, croutons, tomatoes and bacon — but it also makes a good dip for crudites and chicken wings.

Blue Cheese Dressing

Makes about ¾ cup

• 2½ ounces blue cheese, crumbled (about ½ cup)
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk or substitute whole milk, if you must
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt (you can also use mayonnaise, but I prefer yogurt)
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and ground black pepper

Mash the blue cheese and buttermilk or milk together with a fork until the you’ve achieved the right crumbly-creamy texture to suit your tastes. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 week.

A Simple Summer Dip

For my snack today, I made a quick dip filled with the flavors of summer. I ate it with cucumber slices, but it would also go well with any type of crudite (carrot sticks, peppers, squash) or with pita chips, I would think. It would probably also be an excellent salad dressing. Make sure to let it sit for an hour or two to let the flavors marry.

Tomato & Basil Dip

Please note: All measurements are approximate and should be done to taste.

Combine:

• ¾ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup plain yogurt
• 3-4 small roma tomatoes, minced
• 2-3 lg. basil leaves, sliced
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Refrigerate for an hour or two before serving.

Related articles

• Cucumbers from the Garden (simplycooking.wordpress.com)

Pasta Frittata and Blue Cheese Dressing

Pasta Frittata is a recipe that I’ve had on my “to try” list for a long time, but I’ve put off making because it sounds so weird. It is just what it seems like: a frittata that is made with leftover spaghetti or similar pasta (I used linguine). I don’t know why it seems so strange to me. The recipe I used calls for the same ingredients in a classic Carbonara: eggs, bacon, Parmesan and pasta. It’s just cooked like a frittata instead. Even my husband balked a little when I told him what I was making, so I wasn’t the only one who thought it sounded strange.

The frittata turned out pretty good, if a little plain. It definitely did not taste weird, though. The pasta adds some texture to the frittata, a little heft, but not a lot of flavor. I probably wouldn’t make this again unless I had some leftover cooked pasta that I was trying to get rid of, and next time I would add more vegetables and cheese. All things considered, Carbonara is definitely the tastier way to go.

On a totally unrelated note, when blue cheese is on sale, I love to buy a chunk and feast on green salads with blue cheese dressing. This is completely a guilty pleasure, but I try not to indulge too often. Here is my recipe:

Blue Cheese Dressing

Mix together:

• ¼ cup blue cheese, crumbled
• 1 tbsp. buttermilk or milk
• 2 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp. sour cream
• 1-2 tsp. red wine vinegar (to taste)
• 1 tbsp. parsley or chives, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Steamed Vegetables with Sesame Dressing

This Asian-influenced sesame dressing is a light accompaniment for pretty much any vegetable that can be steamed: asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, green beans, snow peas or sugar snap peas. (If you substitute another longer cooking vegetable, remember to adjust the steaming time accordingly.) Serve this as a light starter before a heartier soup or stew. Serves 4.

1. Prepare 2 cups of the vegetable by trimming and/or cutting into equally sized pieces
2. Place a steamer basket over about ½ inch of water in a large, shallow pan and bring to a boil
3. Reduce to a gentle simmer, place the vegetables in the basket and cover
4. Steam until tender and bright green, 4-7 minutes

Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by mixing together:

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. honey
• 2 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Pour the dressing over the steamed vegetables and serve.

Caesar Salad at Home

Probably my favorite salad to get when eating out is the Caesar Salad. When made well, a Caesar Salad is crispy, crunchy and salty (due to the Parmesan) with a dressing that is creamy, tangy, garlicky and puckery. When made poorly, a Caesar Salad is a mess of lettuce covered in glop, but I try to avoid those restaurants. Still, I was daunted by making a Caesar Salad at home. I didn’t really want to mess about with raw eggs and anchovies on a weeknight. So I came up with this pseudo-Caesar recipe, which — even though it’s not authentic — captures for me everything a Caesar Salad should be and comes together in about 5 minutes.

Caesar Salad

Serves: 2
Time to make: ~5 minutes

To make the dressing, process together:

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1½ tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ tsp. Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp. anchovy paste (can be found in the specialty or Italian foods aisle)
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• plenty of freshly ground pepper

The salad itself is a snap. Just combine:

• freshly torn romaine lettuce
• croutons — I make mine by cubing and toasting day-old bread until dried out
• Parmesan — shave it with a vegetable peeler

If I’m feeling really naughty, I might toss in some cherry tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, leftover roasted chicken… Somebody stop me!

How to Make a Vinaigrette

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The vinaigrette is probably the most useful basic recipe in a cook’s repertoire. Once you learn how to make a tasty vinaigrette, you’ll never buy bottled salad dressing again. (If you have a bottle of salad dressing in your refrigerator, go read the ingredients list–I’ll bet it’s mostly sugar of some form or another!) But vinaigrettes go way beyond dressing salads. I use them as marinades, to dress simply cooked vegetables and as a sauce for fish as well.

At its simplest, a vinaigrette is nothing more than oil and vinegar (usually salt and pepper, too). First, the oil. I am nuts for olive oil (which is pretty ironic, since I loathe olives). I use it for almost everything. I’ve read in cookbooks that the strong taste can be too overpowering, but I never find that to be true. So my first choice is always going to be olive oil. I don’t like to use vegetable or canola oil for a vinaigrette, because I don’t think they contribute much in the way of flavor, and flavor is the whole point, as far as I’m concerned.

Other useful oils to have on hand are nut oils like walnut oil and almond oil, which have a sweeter, stronger flavor. They should be kept in the refrigerator or they will go rancid. Infused oils–oils infused with another flavor, such as basil, garlic or chiles–are a fun alternative. Sesame oil is also a good choice, but since it’s so strong, I usually mix it with a neutral oil like canola.

The other component is the vinegar. Stocking a variety of vinegars is the key to always having a lively salad. For a simple salad of mixed greens, I prefer balsamic vinegar, which packs the greatest flavor punch. I also keep on hand red and white wine vinegars, sherry vinegar and apple cider vinegar. There are many, many other flavors, so go crazy. For instance, I’ve had a bottle of raspberry vinegar for a while that comes in really handy for fruit salads. My father once gave me a bottle of lemon-thyme-infused vinegar that was heavenly on greens.

The alternative to vinegar is citrus. Lemon and lime juice contribute bright, sunny flavors to the vinaigrette. I particularly enjoy them on simply cooked vegetables and fish.

The basic formula to making vinaigrette is: 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. (I’ve seen cookbooks advocate 4 parts oil, but in my opinion, that just makes the salad taste oily.) So if you’re making a lot, use ¾ cup oil and ¼ cup vinegar. If you’re just making enough for two salads, use 3 tbsp. oil and 1 tbsp. vinegar.

You do have to make some adjustments to this formula depending on your ingredients. If you’re using a strongly flavored oil, such as a nut oil, use a ratio of 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. If you’re using lemon or lime juice, which is not as acidic as vinegar, also use a ratio of 2 parts oil to 1 part juice, and mix in some of the zest for extra flavor.

What else can you add to your vinaigrette to jazz it up? The standards are, in any combination (per 1 cup vinaigrette):

• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 minced shallot
• 1 tbsp. mustard
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. minced capers or pickles
• 1 tbsp. seasoning mix
• 2 tbsp. or more fresh herbs, minced

I hate to keep touting Penzey’s, but they sell a number of mixes that will add instant flavor to any vinaigrette. My husband particularly loves their Italian dressing mix, which is pretty zesty.

So, how to make it? If you’re getting ready to dress the salad, just whisk together all the ingredients until well combined and toss. If you want to really emulsify the vinaigrette–in other words, combine the oil and vinegar so thoroughly that they won’t readily separate–put all the ingredients but the oil in the blender. With the blender running, slowly pour the oil in and keep mixing until the vinaigrette is thick.

Chef’s tip: To make an easy creamy vinaigrette, substitute heavy cream, sour cream or plain yogurt for 1/3 of the oil, adding it after whisking in the oil.

Store extra in the refrigerator. The oil will probably solidify, and the vinaigrette will separate. Take it out for a while before dinner to let it come to room temperature, then re-whisk before serving.

Basic Vinaigrette for Two

Whisk together:

• 1 tbsp. vinegar
• 1 tsp. mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced, or ½ shallot, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp. olive oil