Dressings on the Side

After a gluttonous weekend of rich dinners (Whole Hog at Oliveto just about blew my mind) and SuperBowl snacks, I was craving a big healthy salad for dinner last night. I love love love blue cheese dressing, and hate hate hate low-fat blue cheese dressing out of the bottle. It always has a slimy texture and is just kind of gross.

So…I did some Googling, made a quick trip to the store, and got out my blender. After a few tweaks, the result was low-fat blue cheese dressing that was damn delish (if I do say so myself).  I served it over a big entree-sized salad of greens, vegis and grilled chicken. Yum. This would make a great low-fat dip too — wish I would have thought of that before SuperBowl Sunday!

Low-Fat Blue Cheese Dressing

Serves: This recipe makes 2+ cups of dressing.

Meaty Monitor: High – this is pretty darn close to the real thing.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup 2% light cottage cheese
• 3/4 cup fat free greek yogurt (0% Fage brand is my go-to. Available at Trader Joe’s or Safeway)
• 1/3 cup 1% reduced fat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup of chopped yellow onion (no need to dice it fine, the blender will do the work for you)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 4 tablespoons of blue cheese crumbles, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons minced chives

Directions:

In a blender or food processor, combine cottage cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, onion and garlic. Pulse until well combined, but not totally smooth. Add in pepper, salt and 3 tablespoons of the blue cheese. Pulse again until well combined. If its a little too thick, add in a bit more buttermilk and whirl again. Transfer the dressing to a bowl. With a fork, stir in remaining blue cheese crumbles and chives. Put the dressing in the fridge for 1 hour or so to chill and to let the flavors to combine. Serve over salad or as a dipping sauce.

Delish!

- Hill