Iceberg Wedges with Low Fat Blue Cheese Dressing

I am a huge fan of blue cheese, of course I adore iceberg wedge salads; however, I can do without all of the fat so I played around with this recipe originally on Food and Wine to bring the calories down with tasty results.

The addition of home grown tomatoes pushes the taste over the top.

Iceberg Wedges with Low Fat Blue Cheese Dressing

Food And Wine Magazine

by Tom Douglas

adapted

    1/2 cup crumbled Roquefort cheese

    1/3 cup non fat European style yogurt

    1/3 cup low fat mayonnaise
    1/8 +/- cup fresh lemon juice

    2 scallions, minced

    1/2 teaspoon chopped thyme

    1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
    milk to adjust smoothness and taste of dressing

    Salt and freshly ground pepper

    4 wedges of iceberg lettuce (1 heads)

    3 tomatoes

1. In a bowl, using the back of a fork, lightly mash the Roquefort with the sour cream and mayonnaise
2. Stir in the lemon juice, scallions, thyme and 1 teaspoons of the chopped parsley
3. Season the blue-cheese dressing with salt and pepper and add milk to adjust smoothness, texture and richness of dressing
4. Set the lettuce wedges on a platter
5. Spoon a generous amount of the blue-cheese dressing over each lettuce wedge
6.  Top with the sliced tomatoes and the remaining chopped parsley

Quinoa Black Bean Salad

Side dishes plague me.  Main courses are a breeze.  Fun and easy to throw together.  What to serve with them, ugh!  The other day I served chicken cutlets and needed more.  A salad I thought and pulled open one of my many Moosewood cookbooks.  I found this recipe and it is spectacular and takes only 30 minutes from start to finish.  Make extra since it tastes great the next day.

Quinoa Black Bean Salad

from Moosewood Collection

Moosewood Restaurant Low-fat Favorites

adapted

1/3 cup red quinoa
1 cup water
1t extra virgin olive oil
4t or more fresh lime juice
1/4t ground cumin
1/4t ground coriander
2T finely chopped fresh cilantro
4T minced chives
15 oz black beans (can drained) or 1 1/2 cooked black beans
2 cups organic diced tomatoes
1 organic bell pepper diced
1 jalapeno chile minced
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

~ rinse quinoa well in a sieve under cool running water
~ bring water to a boil in pot
~ add quinoa, cover and simmer on low heat until all the water is absorbed and quinoa is tender 10-20 minutes
~ cool 15 minutes
~ in a large bowl combine the oil, lime juice, cumin, coriander, cilantro and chives
~ stir in the beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, and chile
~ add the cooled quinoa
~ season with salt and pepper to taste
~ combined thoroughly
~ refrigerate until ready to serve

from our garden: cilantro, chives and jalapeno