Weekly Dish

Things are getting really busy at school–a stack of papers to grade, a presentation to prepare, reading, reading, reading, etc., and David and I made a quick jaunt to Jackson this weekend to see Jerrod and Jessie and the new baby (click here for a really cute picture of David holding him). All that to say, I’m fixing more and more dinners that can be ready on the fly (and probably these posts are going to ramble less and less).

For my busiest weeks, the formula is usually: salad, pasta, pizza, a meat dish, and something else that could use up leftovers. For this week, my pasta and salad center around gorgonzola cheese, and the phyllo spinach pie uses up all the leftover spinach from the one main-dish-and-sides night. Most all of these meals can be prepared in less than an hour, and good food that’s also quick makes me happy when life is busy.

This Cobb Salad is a great example of a simple, fresh meal in not a lot of time. I am averse to salad dressings that come in a bottle, so I make my own (which takes about 2 minutes), but other than that, a little chopping, and this meal is ready.

Here’s what you’ll need for 2 salads:

Baby spinach leaves

Sliced ham

1 avocado, sliced

1 plum or Roma tomato, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

2 ounces blue cheese (I used gorgonzola)

Arrange the spinach on the plates. Top with everything else, arranging each ingredient in its own little stripe. Drizzle with Blue Cheese Dressing.

Here’s how to make that:

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup mayonnaise, homemade if you’ve got it

1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt

Juice of half a lemon

2 ounces blue cheese (again, gorgonzola for me)

Add the garlic clove to the food processor with the motor running; when it’s minced, add everything else.

Posted: Monday, October 3rd, 2005 at 10:55 am Filed under: Main Dish, Sauces and Condiments, Salad, Vegetables. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.