Thursday, September 19, 2013

Quick and Easy: Blue Cheese Salad Dressing

Homemade dressing, heirloom tomatoes

Blue Cheese Dressing
Makes ½ – ¾ cup

¼ - ½ Cup Sunflower Oil
1 TB Lemon Juice
2 oz. Blue Cheese (Gore-Dawn-Zola)
3 tsp. Vinegar (Vermont Cranberry Company)
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
½ tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
½ tsp. Prepared Mustard
¼ tsp. Honey


Place ¼ cup of oil and remaining ingredients in a blender and pulse until an emulsion forms.

If too thick, add additional oil.

Taste.  Salt, honey and vinegar may need adjustment, depending on the blue cheese used.

Refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to combine.

Keeps for a week.
Blue Cheese Dressing


It was inevitable that a cheesemaker would be asked for a salad dressing recipe.

My automatic response has always been: “Add cheese to your favorite bottled ranch”. 

However, in recent years, I’ve become hyper-vigilant about reading labels – thanks to a pair of prescription glasses - because font-sizes seem to shrink every time the calendar flips.

In my favorite salad toppers, I found traces of wheat and soy, thickeners, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives.

My ignorance had been happy tangy bliss, and blaming my tummy troubles on my husband was far too convenient.

(He eats fast-food sandwiches, which makes cross-contamination...well…probably still his fault!)

I now have a dressing recipe.

There’s only one caution.  If you use dark-colored vinegar, the dressing could turn purple, green, or grey – as mine did.