One of the beautiful things about summer is the abundance of fresh-tasting recipes like this one for Blue Cheese-Grilled Chicken over Balsamic Tomatoes. It’s super easy to make and a great way to feature those sweet, vine-ripened tomatoes.

If you don’t like blue cheese, a good substitute would be slices of fresh mozzarella. Serve the grilled chicken with summery side dishes like Sagaponak Corn Pudding and Green Beans Vinaigrette. Enjoy!

Blue Cheese-Grilled Chicken over Balsamic Tomatoes
-recipe from Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes by Janice Cole

I love the simplicity of this dish. It contains only a few ingredients, but it’s bursting with flavor. Choose your ingredients carefully, starting with great-tasting free-range chicken and mellow blue cheese, such as Maytag. The tomatoes should be sweet, tangy, and juicy because the tomato juice mingles with the balsamic vinegar, creating a light sauce for the chicken. Serves 4.

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
12 tomato slices (about 2 tomatoes)

Preheat the grill to medium. Brush the chicken with the olive oil. Scatter the garlic over the chicken breasts and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Brush 1 tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar over the chicken.

Oil the grill grate. Grill the chicken, covered, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, sprinkling the blue cheese over the chicken during the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Meanwhile, arrange the tomatoes on a platter and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. Serve the chicken over the tomatoes.

Tags: balsamic vinegar, blue cheese, grilled chicken, Quick Cooking, tomatoes

Here’s a great salad that is perfect for the holidays and winter months: mixed greens tossed with chicken, candied pecans, dried cranberries, crisp apple, tangy blue cheese and a honey-dijon vinaigrette. It’s beautiful, festive and delicious!

For the greens, I used a bag of mixed baby spring greens that included romaine, oak leaf, chard, arugula, frisee and radicchio, and half of a bag of mixed greens that included chopped butter lettuce and radicchio. Also, I didn’t chop the lettuce leaves because I was in a hurry. Next time, I’ll do the chopped version. I found candied pecans at Trader Joe’s. Enjoy!

Winter Chopped Salad
-recipe from Seriously Simple Holidays by Diane Rossen Worthington

Serves 6 as a first course or 8 as a main course (I think it really serves much more than that!)

Dressing:
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Salad:
1 head radicchio, cored and finely chopped (the red lettuce)
2 heads romaine lettuce, light green and white leaves only, finely chopped
1 1/4 pounds cooked chicken breasts, skin & bones removed and cut into 1-inch dice (about 3 cups)
1 Fuji, Gala, or Pink Lady apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup candied pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup crumbled blue or fresh goat cheese
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Make the dressing: in a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, honey, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Place the radicchio, romaine, chicken, apple, cranberries, nuts and cheese in a large salad bowl.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Sprinkle with pepper (if desired) and serve.

Advance preparation:
Make the dressing up to 2 days ahead, cover, and keep at room temperature. Whisk well before using. Make the salad up to 4 hours ahead, cover, and refrigerate. Toss with dressing right before serving.

The Clever Cook Could:
* Substitute 3 cups diced cooked turkey for the chicken
* Add 6 strips of bacon, fried until crisp and crumbled.
* Omit the chicken and serve the salad as a first course
* If you’re not a fan of chopped salad, tear the leaves into bite-size pieces instead of finely chopping them.

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Tags: apple, blue cheese, candied pecans, candied walnuts, dried cranberries, mixed baby greens, radicchio, romaine, vinaigrette, winter chopped salad

If you like blue cheese then you’ll love these sandwiches…they are soooo good! Peppery arugula, smoked turkey, sweet caramelized red onion and bold blue cheese…great combo!

Husband thought it was a great sandwich but that I put a bit too much blue cheese on his sandwich…it overpowered the smoked turkey, he said. You can always use less blue cheese if you just wanted a hint of it.

For the onions, cut them into thin slices (rounds). I didn’t cut mine thin enough so they took a lot longer to cook. Once they were lightly browned and softened, I added the vinegar (using 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 2 1/2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar). The balsamic vinegar added a nice sweetness that was great with the blue cheese.

This sandwich deserves something better than typical sandwich bread. The sliced Rustic Wheat Bread (made by Portland French Bakery) that I bought was perfect; it was hearty, chewy and a delicious foundation for the sandwiches. Yumm!

Smoked Turkey, Blue Cheese, and Red Onion Sandwiches
-recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine (September 2008)

by The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen

To take the sandwiches on a picnic, use ciabatta rolls—they will stay firm despite the mayo.

Yield: Makes 4
Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 8- to 10-ounce red onions, cut into 1/3-inch-thick rounds
3 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 cups trimmed large arugula leaves (about 4 ounces), divided
3/4 cup mayonnaise
8 1/3-inch-thick slices seeded wheat bread (such as La Brea Bakery) or four ciabatta rolls, cut horizontally in half
12 ounces thinly sliced smoked turkey
3/4 cup coarsely crumbled blue cheese (such as Maytag; about 3 ounces)

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until soft and lightly browned, breaking up onion rings, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Chop enough arugula to measure 1 cup; place in medium bowl. Mix in mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper. Spread about 11/2 tablespoons arugula mayonnaise over each cut side of bread. Divide turkey slices among 4 bread slices. Top with crumbled blue cheese, dividing equally. Top with red onions, then whole arugula leaves and bread.

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Tags: arugula, arugula mayonnaise, blue cheese, red onion, sandwiches, smoked turkey, wheat bread

If you like Buffalo Chicken Wings, you’re going to love these sandwiches! They’re easy to make, delicious and way more satisfying than those scrawny little chicken wings. I love the spicy red pepper sauce that coats the tender chicken breasts, and the tangy, extremely flavorful blue cheese spread that gets slathered on the bun tops. Basically, this sandwich ROCKS!

I pretty much followed the recipe except I grilled the chicken instead of cooking it in a skillet. Also, I substituted a few tablespoons of mayonnaise for sour cream in the blue cheese spread, which actually added to the overall flavor. The crumbled Gorgonzola that I got at Trader Joe’s worked perfectly in the spread. I didn’t bother serving the sandwich with red onions since the blue cheese spread had green onions in it.  For extra texture and flavor, I toasted the inside of each bun. The sandwich is a little messy so serve with plenty of napkins.

Hot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
- Rachael Ray recipe from foodnetwork.com 

Makes 4 sandwiches.

4 pieces, 6 ounces each, boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1 /3 palm full
1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/3 palm full
A drizzle extra-virgin olive oil

Sauce for chicken:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup, 4 ounces, cayenne pepper sauce, preferred brand Frank’s Red Hot
Bib or leaf lettuce leaves
4 crusty rolls, split
2 cups sour cream
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled
Small red onion, thinly sliced
8 ribs celery, cut into sticks
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into sticks

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and chili powder. Drizzle breast with a little extra virgin olive oil to coat. Pan grill chicken breasts 5 minutes on each side.

Heat a metal or oven safe glass bowl over low heat and melt butter in the bowl. Add hot sauce to the butter and combine. When the chicken breasts are done, remove from pan and add to the bowl and coat evenly with hot sauce mixture.

Place chicken breasts on bun bottoms and top with crisp lettuce. Combine sour cream, scallions and blue cheese and slather bun tops with blue cheese sour cream. Affix bun tops on sandwiches and serve with remaining sauce for dipping your veggies. Arrange Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches on dinner plates with red onion, celery and carrot sticks.

Tags: blue cheese, buffalo chicken sandwich, Chicken, Frank's Red Hot Sauce