Spinach Salad With Fried Blue Cheese Recipes

SPINACH SALAD WITH BLUE CHEESE DRESSING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Soak the red onion in a small bowl of ice water, about 30 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
• Meanwhile, make the croutons: Mash the anchovies with a fork. Combine the olive oil, mashed anchovies, 1 grated garlic clove and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Add the torn bread and toss with your hands until the bread absorbs the oil. Spread on a baking sheet and bake, stirring halfway through, until golden brown and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool.
• Whisk the buttermilk, sour cream, blue cheese, vinegar, parsley, the remaining grated garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper in a large bowl until combined. Add the spinach, lettuce, cucumber, red onion and croutons; toss well.

SPINACH SALAD WITH BLUE CHEESE

Steps:

• Place dressing ingredients in a sealed jar or cruet and shake well to mix.
• Toss all the salad ingredients to mix well.
• Do not add dressing until just before serving.

SPINACH, ARUGULA, AND FRISEE SALAD WITH BLEU CHEESE DRESSING, FRESH TOMATOES, AND CRISPY BACON

Steps:

• In a small saute pan, over medium heat, heat the oil and cook the onion until lightly browned. Lower the heat and cook until caramelized, about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
• In a large bowl, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, blue cheese, and sage. If the dressing is too thick, loosen the dressing by pouring in a little more of the buttermilk. You want the dressing to be pourable. Season the dressing with salt, and pepper, to taste.
• Combine the spinach, arugula, frisee, tomato, and bacon in a large bowl and dress gently with a few spoonfuls of blue cheese dressing. Add more dressing to taste, but don't overdress the greens. Season the salad with salt, and pepper, to taste.

SPINACH SALAD WITH BLUE CHEESE AND BACON

Steps:

• Whisk together lemon juice, mustard and season to taste.
• Add oil in a thin stream, whisking, until dressing is emulsified.
• In a bowl, combine spinach, mushrooms, bacon, eggs, onion, blue cheese and dressing.
• Toss salad gently, until combined well.

SPINACH AND BLUE CHEESE SALAD WITH SLICED APPLES AND SPICED CARAMELIZED PECANS

Steps:

• Cut the apple into quarters, remove the stem and the seeds, and cut into very thin slices. Sprinkle lemon juice over the slices and set aside.
• When ready to serve, in a salad bowl, combine the apple, spinach, radicchio, and blue cheese. Season lightly with salt and pepper and toss with the dressing. Adjust seasoning, to taste.
• To serve, divide the salad among 4 plates and sprinkle the pecans around each salad.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots and the mustard. Whisk in the vinegars, and then the olive and vegetable oils. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until needed.
• Yield: 1 1/4 cups
• Recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck, "Adventures in the Kitchen", Random House, 1991
• In a deep-fryer or a deep pot, heat the oil to 350 degrees F. (A deep-frying thermometer can be clipped to the side of the pan so that you can tell when the proper temperature has been reached).
• Meanwhile, in a large saucepan bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add the pecans and boil for 2 minutes. Drain in a large strainer, shaking off all excess water. Sprinkle the salt and cayenne pepper over the nuts and then coat with the confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, allowing the sugar to melt into the pecans. Toss the nuts by shaking the strainer, adding a little more sugar each time, until all the sugar is used and all the nuts are coated. Do not use hands or a spoon to toss. The nuts should have a glaze of sugar.
• Carefully add the nuts to the heated oil, keeping the oil at 350 degrees F. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slotted spoon to a baking tray to cool.
• Yield: 2 cups
• Recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck, "Pizza, Pasta & More!," Random House, 2000

SPINACH SALAD WITH FRIED BLUE CHEESE

Steps:

• In a large bowl with a fork mash the garlic to a paste with the salt, add the vinegar, the Worcestershire sauce, and the olive oil, and combine the dressing well. Add the spinach to the dressing and toss the salad well.
• Have ready in separate bowls the flour, the egg, beaten lightly, and the bread crumbs. Dredge the cheese cubes in the flour, shaking off the excess, coat them thoroughly with the egg, and dredge them in the bread crumbs, patting the crumbs on to help them adhere. In a saucepan heat 2 inches of the vegetable oil to 350°F. on a deep-fat thermometer and in it fry the cheese cubes in batches for 45 seconds, or until they are golden, transferring them as they are fried with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Divide the spinach salad between 2 bowls and top it with the fried cheese.