Photo by Annabelle Breakey; styling by Karen Shinto
2 of 22Photo by Annabelle Breakey; styling by Karen Shinto
Blue Cheese and Pear Tart
We cut this tart up into small pieces for an elegant appetizer, but you could also slice it into large wedges and serve it with a green salad for a light meal.
If your style is easygoing, think of these as mini-pizzas, irresistibly topped with blue cheese. For a swank affair, casually mention to guests that you made the yeasted semolina dough by hand, and serve these rich rounds at cocktail hour. (Nobody needs to know how easy it was.)
Either way, serve with a slightly off-dry Riesling for a festive pairing made in pizza heaven.
Reader Margee Berry, of White Salmon, WA, combined the best flavors of pub fare in this recipe for hearty blue cheese noodles. We prefer it with a beer that’s a little bitter, such as an IPA, but feel free to use whatever you have in the fridge. You could also omit the beer and use a little of the pasta water if you like.
You want delicious? You want easy? You want a Cobb salad. Store-bought chicken finds a friend in pungent blue cheese and applewood-smoked bacon, tied together with crispy-licious lettuce and surprisingly sophisticated watercress. This classic has everything, plus a little extra.
Perk up a green salad with juicy-sweet berries and flavorful blue cheese crumbles. A dish this peppery and refreshing needs only a simple vinaigrette to finish.
Tasty, gorgeous, easy: Savory bacon, creamy avocado, crispy endive, and sharp gorgonzola tossed with a simple sherry vinaigrette. May I have some more?
Wimpy lunch? Not this knockout sandwich. Crunchy bread gets a creamy kick from blue cheese and mayo; top it with chicken and avocado. It's an extra-special midday pick-me-up, or an all-in-one weeknight dinner.
Sliced Filet Mignon Wrap with Pear-Onion Relish and Blue-Cheese Dressing
Play with the classic beef-and-blue combo. Rich steak matched with a sweet-tart pear-onion relish gets a flavor boost from tangy blue cheese and a healthy dose of spinach greens.
Linguine with Gorgonzola, Potatoes, Green Beans, and Sage
Your new Italian weeknight staple: The elegant sauce practically creates itself in the time it takes to toss the pasta. Potatoes, pasta, green beans, and blue cheese are a riff on a Ligurian favorite.
Flavor and texture contrasts give this salad extra appeal: Nutty pasta mingles with crisp green beans, strewn with bits of crunchy bacon and creamy Roquefort.
Who needs a steakhouse when you've got your house? Picture it: The finest filet mignon, smeared with decadent blue-cheese butter, grilled in your own backyard. A ritzy night out, for the price of the ingredients. We'll take two.
Broccoli-and-cheese have never had it so good: Everybody's favorite green veggie gets the royal treatment with a creamy blue cheese-spiked sauce. Make it up to a day ahead, then bring it to a potluck ― everybody will feel lucky.
At the end of a holiday dinner, cookbook author Deborah Madison likes to serve a big refreshing salad, passed around at the table. This one is based on a recipe in her her book Vegetable Literacy (Ten Speed Press, 2013).