Blue Cheese Potato Salad

Here's an alternative to traditional potato salad that includes my favorite dressing. If you like, add crumbled bacon for an additional layer of flavor.

Blue Cheese Potato Salad

5-6 large red skin potatoes unpeeled, sliced in 1/4" slices and then halved

4 scallions, chopped including green tops

5 large radishes, thinly sliced

1 cup blue cheese dressing (I use Marzetti Light Chunky Blue Cheese)

salt and pepper to taste

cooked, crumbled bacon (optional)


Wash potatoes and slice as directed. Boil potato slices in large pot with a pinch of salt until fork tender. Drain and cool.  Add all other ingredients and coat the potatoes. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours. 6 servings.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Squares

You won't believe how easy this is to make!

A sopapilla is a fried dough pastry that is often covered with sugar and cinnamon and drizzled with honey.  This dessert is believed to have originated in New Mexico.  When I saw this quick and easy recipe for a cheesecake based on the sopapilla, I decided it was something new I had to try.  Your family and friends will think you spent a lot of time making this delicious and different treat.

It's a very sweet dessert, and I reduced the amount of sugar (slightly) from the recipe I found.  (Honestly, for my taste, I could reduce the sugar a bit more from what I have written below).  The dessert is sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar and drizzled with the optional honey, so that's a lot of sweetness. The recipe I followed didn't specify the amount of cinnamon-sugar, so I included a suggested amount.  Honey was not in the original recipe I had, but the honey adds a nice plating presentation and really makes it like a sopapilla.

I adapted this recipe from Chef in Training. 


Sopapilla Cheesecake Squares

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. sugar
honey (optional)

Preheat of to 350.  Spray 13x9 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Mix together softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.  Set aside.  On parchment or wax paper, unroll one can of roll dough, lightly pressing dough and making sure pieces are together.  Flip the dough into the pan.  Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over dough.  Follow same above instructions for the second can of dough and place on top of cream cheese layer.

Brush top dough layer with melted butter.  Mix cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle on top of melted butter.  Bake for about 20-30 minutes.  Cool and cut into squares. Drizzle individual squares with honey if desired. Store in refigerator.

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes

These pancakes have no sugar, flour, or egg yolks.  The recipe only calls for mixing cottage cheese, oatmeal, egg whites, and vanilla in a blender.  Cook and serve.  Simple and tasty.  I found this recipe at Food.com.

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 tsp vanilla

4 egg whites

Mix ingredients in blender.  Spray griddle or pan with cooking spray.  Cook a few small pancakes at a time.  Serve with your favorite pancake topping. 

Try them with a little orange or lemon zest added to the batter.