Since changing my dietary habits from those promoted by the American Heart Association and others, i.e., a low-fat diet avoiding saturated fat, (read why here and here), I have felt less reserved about eating blue cheese dressing (among other things). Blue cheese dressing is typically high in fat (for example, "Marie's Premium Super Blue Cheese" has 17 grams of total fat per two tablespoon serving), so if you subscribe to a low-fat diet or follow the FDA food pyramid's suggestions, you should consume bleu cheese dressing sparingly. Under my new regime, fat is good for you, and fermented foods like bleu cheese are also healthy.
Sadly, due to mainstream thinking about consumption of animal products and the commercial production of vegetable oil (and their subsidation by the U.S. government), most commercially available salad dressings contain vegetable oil (such as soybean oil or canola oil) as a main ingredient. (Read why vegetable oils may not be good for you at Seth Roberts' Blog, and also here and here).
Until recently, I had been unable to find for purchase a blue cheese salad dressing that did not contain soybean oil or canola oil. I would love to see one with olive oil, but I assume either the flavor of olive oil, its cost, or perhaps its properties cause it not to be used in commercial salad dressing (but see link to recipe below containing olive oil). What did I find that solved my dilemma?
Last night at Whole Foods Market, I found a blue cheese dressing which appears to be made in house. It's ingredient list is:
- Sour Cream
- Bleu Cheese (cow's milk)
- Buttermilk
- Lemon Juice
- salt
- garlic cloves
- black pepper
As you might expect from the above list, the dressing is thin and watery in consistency and not at all like the thick dressings from sources such as Marie's. While this could prove problematic for dipping hot wings or vegetables, the thin consistency works fine for a salad. Although it is thin, the Whole Foods recipe really places the flavor of the bleu cheese at the forefront. If you're like me and love bleu cheese, this is a big positive. The dressing is also a bit sour flavored (I guess the sour cream and buttermilk) and salty, but not overly so on either account. I just enjoyed a lunch of some leftover barbeque supplemented with a spinach salad with crispy bacon doused with this wonderful dressing. Delicious!
Since the stuff from Whole Foods is $6 a bottle, I'm going to try replicating their recipe and perhaps improving on it to get some thickness. Perhaps adding thick yogurt or using less buttermilk will thicken the dressing.
links to bleu cheese dressing recipes (none of which I have tried):
One made with olive oil: at epicurious
Martha Stewart Recipe (contains a little mayo, but also has yogurt; maybe try Fage Total in it)
Recipe from Barbara Whiting (contains mayonaise, which typically has vegetable oil, so this one may not be a good choice healthwise)
from cooking light (also containing mayo)
update I tried making the epicurious recipe: see my post here
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