The Organic Dish provides easy and delicious, fresh, natural and organic "make-your-own" meals and dinner kits for vegetarians and omnivores in Boulder, Colorado.

The Boulder County Farmers Market started on Saturday.  It’s so exciting to see all the farmers again and be able to buy fresh local foods.

This week we picked up some red ripe tomatoes from 2R Farms (not certified organic but no pesticides and no herbicides and  so dang delicious).  We also picked up some Bordeaux spinach from Oxford Gardens and had some bacon from John Long farms in our freezer.

Making home-made blue cheese dressing is like making a Caesar Salad (using same whisking methods).  Here’s how you make the dressing (serves 4):

• 1 egg yolk
• 2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice (use vinegar if you don’t have fresh lemon)
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic (smashed into a paste with the edge of your knife)
• 2 ounces crumbled blue cheese (~ 1/2 cup – buy it already crumbled or do it yourself)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp half-n-half

In a bowl, whisk in the egg yolk, garlic, sea salt, black pepper, lemon juice.  Add the crumbled blue cheese.  Whisk this mixture until it becomes smooth (i.e.- you will see no remnants of chunky blue cheese).

Slowly whisk in the olive oil.  If you add too much oil too fast, it will not blend together and will separate.  I like to put the bowl that you are whisking in set in a larger bowl (with a towel in between the two) so that as you whisk, the bowl doesn’t move (see pic below).

How to keep your bowl steady while whisking.

When you have a nice creamy dressing, whisk in the half and half.

Toss the dressing with the spinach (~3/4 lb) and top with 5 pieces cooked and sliced bacon, 2 fresh diced tomatoes, and more blue cheese crumbles if you like.  Serve with a nice piece of toasted bread or croutons.  You can store this for one week in the refrigerator.

Guten Appetit!  Beckie 303-736-9930 xt 1  twitter.com/theorganicdish     www.theorganicdish.com