It's time to hang out with the lovely ladies who are a part of the Cooking Light virtual supper club . . . and I really do need to hang out. The last month has been a whirlwind of activity and the opportunity to just sit back and hear about Roz's vacation, Sandi's vacation, and Val's trips here and there is much needed. It will be great fun to kick back, eat, drink, laugh, and compare tales.
The theme for this month's meal was Get out of the Kitchen (selected by Sandi). Given the fact that I saw no fewer than four folks pass out at the garden centre yesterday I can say it is far too hot and humid for the stove. Our menu this month is perfect for hanging out by the pool (if I HAD a pool).
My contribution was this grilled vegetable salad. You blanch some of the vegetables before grilling to ensure that they will be cooked to perfection, but this adds only three minutes to the cooking time.
The nice things about this recipe is that you can grill the veggies ahead of time and assemble this salad in seconds. This is what we did. I got to play with the new Bobby Flay grill basket that I bought on sale at Kohls - let me tell you that it is the BEST. GRILLING. BASKET. EVER! and I have used quite a few of them over the years.
The folks at CL write that the'fantastic dressing is sure to become a staple, too; you can put it on anything.' They're not exaggerating. It is now my favourite go to blue cheese dressing.
If it is time to beat the heat where you are you won't go wrong with this quick salad!
Grilled Vegetable Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing
1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound green beans, trimmed
1/4 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
1/4 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
1 cup (1/2-inch-thick) slices red onion
Cooking spray
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
6 cups torn romaine lettuce
1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes
To prepare dressing, combine first 6 ingredients, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Cover and chill.
Prepare grill to medium heat.
To prepare salad, cook beans, peas, and carrots in boiling water 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and plunge into ice water; drain. Place mixture in a large bowl, and add onion slices. Lightly coat vegetable mixture with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and garlic salt; gently toss to coat.
Place vegetable mixture in a wire grilling basket coated with cooking spray. Place grilling basket on grill rack, and grill 7 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Arrange 1 1/2 cups of lettuce on each of 4 salad plates. Divide the grilled vegetables and radishes evenly among servings. Serve 1/4 cup dressing with each salad.
Roz of La Bella Vita shares with us a tasty appetizer of Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms.
Val brought along a second outstanding appetizer of Barbecued Chicken Sliders with Pickled Onions.
For our main course Sandi of The Whistlestop Cafe has whipped up Scallops Grilled on Rosemary. Sandi wisely goes heavy on teh optional prosciutto (how can prosciutto EVER be optional I wonder)
As a delicious accompaniment to our barbecue meal Jamie of Mom's Cooking Club has come up with Grilled Thyme Potatoes.
Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen ends our Get out of the Kitchen menu with Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. You can't ask for a better finish!
I have bookmarked it Jerry. It does sound so good and I need a "go to" blue cheese dressing. I found some delciious award winning blue from Oregon on my last trip to Seattle. I really hope to see you in TO in July. Hope you can make it:D Helene who is a past member of the Supper Club is flying in from Ottawa:D
Posted by: bellini | June 01, 2011 at 08:42 PM
Sounds perfect for summer and I love bleu cheese anything so this suits me perfectly! Thank you for a nice summer patio recipe.
Posted by: Barb Cabot | June 01, 2011 at 08:48 PM
I am really intrigued by all these grilled veggies and the dressing sounds to die for. I can't wait to try it.
I totally understand wanting to hang out by the pool- that's what we did today!
Posted by: Mary Ann | June 01, 2011 at 09:57 PM
I never would have thought of using a blue cheese dressing with grilled vegetables, but this does sound good!
Posted by: Amy | June 02, 2011 at 07:15 AM
This was a really delicious salad. The dressing really made the dish.
Posted by: JDeQ | June 30, 2011 at 06:14 AM