Blue cheese salad dressing isn't just for salads!

There are probably as many people who intensely dislike blue cheese salad dressing as those who count this rich dressing as indispensable. I admit to being of the latter persuasion. So much so, that I've discovered a number of dishes besides the salad with which to adorn a variety of foods with this scrumptious taste. If you like blue cheese salad dressing, here are a few other ways to put this cheese dressing to good use.

While there are a couple of commercial brands suited to gourmet applications, you're money ahead to make your own. Most large supermarkets have a gourmet cheese section, with tubs of the unadulterated cheese. You can buy a 6-ounce tub of crumbled blue cheese for about $4. This may seem expensive, but when you price a bottled blue cheese salad dressing, the cost is nearly the same, containing just a fraction of the blue cheese contained in a tub.

So what do you do with this container of unadulterated blue cheese to concoct a superior blue cheese salad dressing that may not end up on a salad? Ah, many things. Let's look at some of the delicious ways to use blue cheese.

If you have a bread maker, it's a simple matter to knead the dough and add sprinklings of blue cheese to be integrated into the dough at the point at which you'd add fruits. You can also buy frozen ready-made doughs which only require allowing it to rise. When you punch the dough down, knead in just a couple of ounces of blue cheese, reform the loaf and bake. This makes an excellent sandwich bread, filled with roast beef, pastrami, some alfalfa sprouts and spread with a bit of mayo. This bread also makes a nice dessert plate, served with baked pears, sprinkled with blue cheese.

Here's a sensational variation on the burger, using a blue cheese salad dressing. This goes especially well with bison burgers. Take your tub of blue cheese and break it up with a fork, for a smoother consistency to this thick blue cheese dressing. Mix just enough mayonnaise, sour cream, or both to make a thick dressing. Add a little white pepper. Broil or grill the burgers, adding a slice of swiss cheese to melt once you've turned the burgers. Toast the buns. Spread the buns with your dressing, put the burger on top and garnish with a slice of tomato and a handful of mesclun. Ooh-la-la, what a treat you have now!

You can apply this same blue cheese salad dressing recipe to a boneless chicken breast. Cut a pocket in the chicken breast. Stuff about two tablespoons of your dressing, mixed with freshly snipped parsley, into the pocket. Bake until done and serve with a side of rice and sauteed mushrooms for an elegant dinner.

This blue cheese dressing also makes an excellent veggie dip. Arrange an assortment of raw veggies, such as broccoli and cauliflower florets, julienned sweet red or orange bell peppers and button mushrooms. Set a small bowl of the blue cheese dressing in the center of the plate, with cocktail toothpicks for a magnificent and healthy appetizer.

Another simple and tasty appetizer can be made with large white or brown mushrooms, stems removed and then filled with a dab of your blue cheese mixture topped with bread crumbs. Broil until the bread crumbs are just browned and serve.

If you're a blue cheese lover, try some of these ways of adding this delicious food to your menus. BTW, that 6 ounce container of blue cheese salad dressing keeps well in the frig for about a week. Bon Appetit!