Last week, I just happened to have some organic turkey bacon in my fridge as well as some butter lettuce (which I almost always keep on hand since it's my favorite of the lettuces). Here's the kicker with this salad - the blue cheese. I have strong opinions about blue cheese from Stilton to Danablu to Roquefort to Gorgonzola. I love them all but Point Reyes is the BEST. Creamy and salty and just the right amount of blue. Mmmm. Plus you can get it pretty easily (I buy mine at Costco).
4 slices {turkey or regular} bacon
1 large tomato, sliced
1 head butter lettuce {or Boston bibb}
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 scallion, chopped
1 cup crumbled blue cheese {please go to Costco and buy the Point Reyes kind - I'm serious. no substitutions.}
2 Tablespoons milk, if necessary
Cook bacon in a hot skillet until crisp. Once cooked, transfer to a paper towel to drain and pour drippings into a small bowl (if you used turkey bacon, there won't be hardly any drippings so you can forgo this step - it's healthier but slightly less tasty). Once slightly cooled, chop the bacon.
Whisk sour cream, milk and vinegar into the bacon drippings (or alone in a small bowl if you used turkey bacon) until smooth. Season with a bit of kosher salt and pepper. Add chopped scallion and 3/4 cup of blue cheese. Stir lightly until combined.
Clean lettuce and tear into wedges and toss with salad dressing (as much or as little as you like). Top with tomato slices, chopped bacon, the remaining blue cheese and a bit of pepper to taste.
4 comments:
My best friend and I were obsessed with this salad all last summer when we were home with our newborns. Once we ate a whole thing of bacon on one salad! Ugh!
We made sourdough croutons by toasting bread cubes tossed in olive oil, crushed garlic and sea salt.
PS - Your dressing recipe sounds amazing!
Wow - thanks for helping us spread the word about our cheese! Like your blog, Point Reyes Original Blue is a true labor of love and it tickles us to see our customers out there evangelizing our brand.
Here is one of our favorite recipes, enjoy!
--Jill Giacomini Basch
Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co.
Cabernet Burgers with Original Blue™
1 750-ml bottle Cabernet Sauvignon
¼ cup minced shallots
1-2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons golden brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1½ pounds ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 cup (6 ounces) Original Blue cheese crumbles
5 (4-inch) squares ciabatta bread, cut horizontally in half
Tomato slices, lettuce leaves
Boil wine and shallots in medium saucepan until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 20-30 minutes. Add rosemary, 1 tablespoon butter and brown sugar; whisk until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. In small bowl mix remaining butter with garlic. Set aside.
Mix ground beef, salt and pepper and 1/3 cup wine/shallot mixture. Form meat into five burgers. Grill burgers until brown on bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn and brush with remaining wine/shallot mixture and continue grilling until cooked to desired doneness, turning and brushing occasionally with wine/shallot mixture. Sprinkle with cheese crumbles and grill until cheese starts to melt.
Spread cut sides of bread with garlic butter. Grill bread cut side down until golden about 2 minutes or broil in oven until golden. Arrange bread cut sides up, place burgers on bottom halves, top with tomato slices and lettuce leaves. Cover with top halves of bread. Serves 5.
This is so yummy! I made it last week, but added some grilled chicken, boiled eggs, and avocado. I was excited about the dressing, as blue cheese is my husband's favorite, but it was a little too vinegary for me. I think next time I'll add less. It was still REALLY good, though.
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