Fall 2005 Creamy Turkey Soup with Parsley Dumplings Cranberry-Orange Chutney Farmhouse Pot Pie Easy Baking Mix Homemade Pie Dough Chopped "Cobb" Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing Main Recipe Index

Makes 4 Servings
Here are the basic elements of the famous Cobb salad, put together in a slightly different way. Instead of crumbled blue cheese as a component, why not make a thick, tangy blue cheese dressing to top each serving? Use leftover roasted turkey or chicken breast or meat from a supermarket rotisserie bird.

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup crumbled Danish blue cheese
1 romaine lettuce heart, about 5 1/2 ounces
2 cups bite-sized chunks roasted turkey or chicken
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
2 ripe avocadoes, pitted, peeled, and cut into 3/4-inch dice (see Simple Tip)

1. Stir sour cream, mayonnaise, and vinegar together in bowl with rubber spatula. Add blue cheese and mix, mashing about half of blue cheese into mayonnaise mixture.
2. Cut romaine heart crosswise into 1/2-inch wide strips; discard lettuce core. Rinse and dry lettuce strips. Place in bowl with turkey, tomatoes, and avocadoes.
3. Serve, with the blue cheese dressing passed on the side.
   

Variation
While Danish blue cheese provides sharp flavor at a reasonable price, Roquefort or Gorgonzola are also options.

Simple Tip
To peel an avocado, first, be sure the avocado is ripe; it should "give" to slight pressure when squeezed. Cut the avocado in half lengthwise, through the stem end, all the way around. Twist apart the two halves, and the pit will remain in one half. Take a sharp knife and whack the pit with the sharp edge of the blade--the blade should stick in the pit. Twist the knife to lift out the pit, pluck it off the blade, and discard it. Use a large metal serving spoon to scoop the avocado flesh in one piece from of each half; discard the peel.

Dress It Up
Sprinkle each serving with cooked, crumbled bacon.