Buffalo Chicken Burgers with Blue Cheese Dressing & Garlic-Herb Steak Fries

Serves 4
Prep Time: 25 minutes (Say WHAT? It took 5 minutes to prep the fries, 10 minutes to prep the chicken burgers and 10 minutes to make the dressing. But the chicken and dressing can be made while the fries are baking, so dinner was ready in 35 minutes) Cooking Time: 35 minutes

Steak Fries:
3 cups frozen steak fries
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic salt (I thought this was too much, I used 1/2 teaspoon)

1. Preheat oven to 450*.

2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Arrange fries in a single layer on a large baking sheet lined with tin foil. Bake at 450 for 17 minutes, or until lightly browned, stirring once.

Burgers & Dressing:
1 pound ground skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
1 tablespoon dried bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise
1 small celery stalk, finely chopped
2 tablespoons reduce-fat blue cheese crumbles
4 whole wheat hamburger buns
4 lettuce leaves
Tomatoes, sliced

1. Preheat grill to medium high heat.

2. While fries are baking, combine chicken, scallions, bread crumbs, salt and pepper sauce in a large bowl and mix well. With damp hands, shape mixture into 4 (1/2-inch thick) patties.

3. Place patties on grill and cook until done, about 5 minutes on each side.

4. Meanwhile, to make dressing, stir together yogurt, mayonnaise, celery, and blue cheese in a small bowl.

Place burgers on buns and top evenly with dressing, lettuce & tomatoes. Serve with steak fries.

Results: I have nothing but raves for this recipe. It was delicious, and a great way to get the taste of some buffalo wings, if you are having a craving. The fries were fantastic too. Henry devoured his burger, but didn't like the fries. Steven liked the fries (and gladly took Henry's fries), but wouldn't touch the burger. Chris and I ate every single bite, and may or may not have licked our plates. The dressing could be made ahead of time, if you are looking to save some time.

Steak, Fried Onions, and Potatoes Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

Serves 4

1 lb very thin-cut beef (I used top round, thinly sliced and advertised as "skillet steak")
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus some for coating the meat
Grill seasoning
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 to 2 ounces crumbled blue cheese**
Salt and black pepper
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
2 cups chopped arugula or watercress
1/2 cup canned fried potato sticks
1/2 cup canned fried onions**

**Notes: The original recipe called for 1/3 lb of blue cheese, which would have been a little more than 5 oz. I used 5 ounces and it was WAY too much. I would halve it, and go from there. Trust me. Also, if it's not Thanksgiving, it's surprisingly difficult to find fried onions. I finally found them with the canned vegetables.

1. Preheat a large grill pan (I used a skillet) over high heat. Coat the meat with olive oil, then season on both sides with grill seasoning. Cook the meat for 3 minutes on each side, then let it rest for 10 minutes to cool.

2. While the meat cooks, assemble the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk together the Worcestershire, mustard, and red wine vinegar. Stream in about 1/3 cup olive oil while whisking constantly. Stir in the blue cheese. Season the dressing with salt and pepper.

3. Chop the rested steak into bite-size pieces. Place the chopped greens in a salad bowl and toss with the chopped steak, potato sticks, fried onions, and blue cheese dressing.

Results: Rachel Ray said this recipe was (wait for it...) YUM-O! and with fried onions, how could she be wrong? It was just OK in my opinion, but Chris really liked it. There was way too much blue cheese, but I will say I loved the crunchy onions and potato sticks in the salad. This recipe was SOOOOO easy to make, so it's worth repeating on a busy night. I think I would add tomatoes or a red pepper to the salad.

Pasta Primavera in Blue Cheese Sauce

Serves 4

1/2 lb Linguine, cooked
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup zucchini, diced
1/2 cup yellow squash, diced
1/4 cup red pepper, diced
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
4 oz crumbled blue cheese

1. Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish. Heat in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Served with Caprese Salad

Results: No, the instructions are not a misprint. That is ALL there is to making this dish. I couldn't believe how simple this meal was to prepare, and the taste was out of this world! It was so delicious, I can't wait to make it again. The Caprese salad was *perfect* with this dish, but then again, when is a Caprese salad NOT perfect?

If my husband took the leftovers to work for lunch today, he might want to sleep with one eye open.

Smoky Bacon and Blue Cheese Chicken Salad Pitas

Serves 4-6

3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1&1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Pitas, cut in half (I used small pitas because I figured it would be easier for the boys to eat)

1. Combine first 4 ingredients, stirring well. Combine lettuce, chicken, bacon and tomatoes in a medium bowl, stirring well. Drizzle yogurt mixture over chicken mixture; toss gently to coat. Spoon chicken salad into each pita half.

Served with grapes

Results: I knew that neither boy would touch the tomatoes or lettuce, so I separated theirs out and added peas.

This was very good, and I will definitely repeat it, but I felt like I was standing in the kitchen forever! Maybe I was just in a mood, because there was nothing particularly hard about the recipe. Both boys took a bite, and claimed to not like it. Not a success with the boys, but very good for the adults. The blue cheese/yogurt mixture was great.