Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

I’m finally starting to feel like my self again after a pretty fun weekend away with some couple friends. We really showed the world we can still throw them back even though some of our members now come with babies. Even if some of us (me) fell asleep at seven-thirty in the evening on Saturday.  We also proved we are WAY too old to hang.

A really wonderful weekend culminated in me getting on the only freeway that was jam packed coming home early Monday morning on a holiday that I did not have off from work. Then getting lost after getting off said freeway and then proceeding to irrationally losing it on Wes.

Real nice Ange. Real nice.

But all is right with the world again. I’m home and back in the kitchen. Where I belong.

When I wanted to do a little remix on a night at a steakhouse for mom and pop, I was SHOCKED that I had never made one of my all time favorite indulgences. The wedge salad.

How have I not made myself some of this blue cheese and bacony goodness?

Well don’t worry. I made up for it. This thing was decadently delicious.

You will need…

1 head iceberg lettuce

1 shallot, halved and thinly sliced

3 slices of your favorite thick cut bacon

8 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

¼ cup buttermilk

¼ cup Greek yogurt

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

½ lemon, juiced

Start by cooking your bacon over medium heat in a large pan until crispy. About 7 minutes a side. 

Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to remove the grease.

Roughly chop the bacon and set aside.

Removing the more damaged outer leaves, quarter the head of lettuce  and lay it on the platter.

Top the lettuce with the shallots, ½ the blue cheese and the bacon.

In a mason jar or food processor, combine the remaining blue cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Blend or shake until completely combined.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela  

Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

1 head iceberg lettuce

1 shallot, halved and thinly sliced

3 slices of your favorite thick cut bacon

8 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

¼ cup buttermilk

¼ cup Greek yogurt

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

½ lemon, juiced

Start by cooking your bacon over medium heat in a large pan until crispy. About 7 minutes a side. Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to remove the grease.

Roughly chop the bacon and set aside.

Removing the more damaged outer leaves, quarter the head of lettuce  and lay it on the platter.

Top the lettuce with the shallots, ½ the blue cheese and the bacon.

In a mason jar or food processor, combine the remaining blue cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Blend or shake until completely combined.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve. 

Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette

Well hello there.

It’s been awhile my friends. I apologize my lack of culinary updates, but I’ve been DEAD tired.

Even though I’ve been home from sin city since Thursday, very early in the morning, it has taken me days to recover. There might have even been some blubbering due to exhaustion. Might.

But after about twenty hours of sleep, I’m feeling a lot like my pre Vegas self.

And pre Vegas me wanted to get her booty in the kitchen. I’m back and better than ever.

In Vegas, it’s hard to get certain things that are really good for you. Like home cooked meals, smoke free air and sunlight. So I jumped at the chance to make some salad dressing from scratch.

Worth all 3 minutes it took to make it.

You will need…

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons sesame oil

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon palm sugar

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by combining all the ingredients in a medium bowl or mason jar.

Either whisk or shake well until completely combined.

Once completely combined, serve. Save in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela 

Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette 

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons sesame oil

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon palm sugar

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by combining all the ingredients in a medium bowl or mason jar.

Either whisk or shake well until completely combined.

Once completely combined, serve. Save in the refrigerator up to 3 days. 

Smoky Barbeque Dressing

Early tomorrow morning, I’m hopping on a plane headed to the south. And more importantly, I’ll be heading towards something I’ve been craving for a while now.

Barbeque.

Like many people I know, late May and early June bring on this crazy intense craving for good, grilled meats.

I’ve desperately been trying to fulfill my craving myself, but with few free weekends lately, I haven’t been able to put in the hours it would take me.

The other day, the need for some tasty barbeque got so intense I decided to get creative.

This dressing satisfied my need for smoky barbeque flavor.

You will need…

¼ cup smoky barbeque sauce

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by combining the sauce, oil, juice and honey in a mason jar or ball.

Whisk or shake together until well combined.

Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela 

Smokey Barbeque Salad Dressing

¼ cup smoky barbeque sauce

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by combining the sauce, oil, juice and honey in a mason jar or ball.

Whisk or shake together until well combined.

Season with salt and pepper and serve. 

Red Wine Vinaigrette

Last night I went to bed thinking how wonderful it would be to wake up in the morning and to not have to listen to or read about all the election ridiculousness.

I’m a smart person, I should have known better.

While I do really appreciate passionate people, the bitching that is going on out there is pretty out of control.

My personal favorites are the people claiming their lives are over or that they are moving to another country just because one man got re-elected.

News flash people. He is one man. You’re life is not over unless there is nothing else in your life but politics. You still live in one of the most amazing countries on the planet. We have amazing people, amazing places and amazing hearts.

While I am not a life coach, I do consider myself a pretty happy person. My advice to those who are on the edge after the election is to stop bitching so much, stop worrying your pretty little head over something you can’t control for another four years and START thinking about what you can do to make you a better, happier version of yourself.

Be a better person, a better friend, a better member of society.

That is all you can do.

If we all worked a little harder to be better, our nation will be better, brighter, healthier and happier.

I could be wrong. But I’m usually right. Just ask my boyfriend.

While you think about what makes you a happier, better person, I’ll share with you something that makes me a happier, better person.

Yummy, basic, homemade dressings make me happy and healthy. This red wine vinaigrette is my favorite. It is mild and goes with pretty much anything you want to throw in a salad.

And it’s pretty. Pretty never hurts.

You will need…

1/3 cup olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon fresh black pepper

In a small bowl or mason jar, combine your ingredients.

Whisk if you are using a bowl or shake if you are using a mason jar until the ingredients are completely combined.

Drizzle on anything you like and just relax.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela  

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon fresh black pepper

In a small bowl or mason jar, combine your ingredients.

Whisk if you are using a bowl or shake if you are using a mason jar until the ingredients are completely combined.

Drizzle on anything you like and just relax. 

Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

As I child, I always thought Halloween was a completely kid centric “holiday.”

My parents, like most of the parents I knew, never dressed up and didn’t get to go from door to door to acquire mass amounts of candy. How could they possibly be enjoying this as much as I was?

What I didn’t notice is that mom and dad were drinking adult beverages, stealing my candy when I wasn’t looking and were laughing their asses off at the ridiculous things we did, said and wore.

Trick-or-Treating as a child was cool, but doing it as an adult is down right fantastic.

We hit the mean streets of San Clemente last night with Wes’s sister and kids and oh what fun it was. But I am majorly feeling the candy hangover today.

So it’s time to health it up with natures candy. Beets.

Just beet it.

You will need…

2 red beets, peeled and chopped

2 yellow beets, peeled and chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1/3 cup olive oil plus 2 tablespoons

4 cups arugula

¼ cup goat cheese

¼ cup roughly chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon honey

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt, divided in half

1 teaspoon pepper, divided in half

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, toss together the beets, ½ teaspoon of both salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Spread the beets out over a baking sheet and pop them in your preheated oven.

Roast the beets for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

While the beets are roasting, combine the arugula, goat cheese and walnuts in a large salad bowl and set aside.

After the beets have roasted for 30 minutes, add in the chopped red onions, toss and roast for another 20 minutes, tossing twice.

While the beets and onions are roasting, combine the remaining oil, vinegar, honey and remaining salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Whisk until completely combined.

When the beets and onions are done roasting, remove from the oven and let them cool slightly.

After they have cooled, toss them with the vinaigrette and let them soak for 5 minutes.

Pour the dressing, beets and onions, over the salad.

Toss and serve.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela 

Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

2 red beets, peeled and chopped

2 yellow beets, peeled and chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1/3 cup olive oil plus 2 tablespoons

4 cups arugula

¼ cup goat cheese

¼ cup roughly chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon honey

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt, divided in half

1 teaspoon pepper, divided in half

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, toss together the beets, ½ teaspoon of both salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Spread the beets out over a baking sheet and pop them in your preheated oven.

Roast the beets for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

While the beets are roasting, combine the arugula, goat cheese and walnuts in a large salad bowl and set aside.

After the beets have roasted for 30 minutes, add in the chopped red onions, toss and roast for another 20 minutes, tossing twice.

While the beets and onions are roasting, combine the remaining oil, vinegar, honey and remaining salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Whisk until completely combined.

When the beets and onions are done roasting, remove from the oven and let them cool slightly.

After they have cooled, toss them with the vinaigrette and let them soak for 5 minutes.

Pour the dressing, beets and onions, over the salad.

Toss and serve. 

Blue Cheese and Pomegranate Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

My household I’m sure is like many other households in that we have a pretty standard routine of dishes we serve.

There is always a protein, vegetable or salad and a starch. Very balanced.

Most of our meals are some combination of our database of the above mentioned three groups.

Since I moved home, many of the things I’ve made for the blog have become staples in the rotation.

This is one of my favorite salads and I always just assumed I had made it at some point and that was how it found itself in the rotation.

When I went to find the post on the blog because I needed the dressing recipe to send to someone, I realized that this had never been shared with the wannabe foodies.

Turns out, this recipe is actually one of my mothers.

So I’m stealing it from her to share with you.

Shhh… don’t tell her.

You will need…

1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped into bite sized pieces

Seeds from ½ pomegranate

¼ cup crumbled blue cheese

¼ cup pecans, roughly chopped

1/3 cup olive oil

¼ cup apple cider vinaigrette

1 tablespoon honey

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Start by combining the lettuce, cheese, pomegranate seeds and pecans in a large salad bowl.

Then in a mason jar or small bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper.

Shake or whisk until completely combined.

Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad, toss and serve.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela  

Blue Cheese and Pomegranate Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped into bite sized pieces

Seeds from ½ pomegranate

¼ cup crumbled blue cheese

¼ cup pecans, roughly chopped

1/3 cup olive oil

¼ cup apple cider vinaigrette

1 tablespoon honey

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Start by combining the lettuce, cheese, pomegranate seeds and pecans in a large salad bowl.

Then in a mason jar or small bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper.

Shake or whisk until completely combined.

Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad, toss and serve.