Hearty Greens and Blue (Cheese) Salad – Fast Fall Foods 1

Our fall days zoom on, shorter and shorter. Here’s a handful (in five installments) of super speedy foods – no recipe necessary, few (and flexible) ingredients required, quick to assemble, quick to clean afterward. That they’re healthy (pretty much) is bonus plus.

Then, you can linger on other things. Savor. Maybe learn to play “Here Comes the Sun,” as my guitar teacher Devon Sproule is patiently trying to do for me.

Maybe listen to this interview with Viola Davis , only a scrap of which I caught on the radio yesterday. But what a scrap! “Authenticity is my rebellion,” she said. love that.

Toss a ball for the pup. Or just watch the frost come and go.

Trust me, there are way worse things to do with your time.

It’s a magical world out there.

Hearty Greens and Blue (Cheese) Salad

First in the Fast Fall Foods line-up, this hearty greens salad. If raw kale, or kale in any form shivers your timbers and not in a good way (hello, my darling in-laws!), sub in shredded broccoli, escarole, napa cabbage,… or? Just remember, it’s best if your greens are on the heartier side (skip the baby lettuce, e.g.), since the blue cheese prefers a sturdy partner.

Ingredients

Hearty greens, preferably some variety of kale

Mayonnaise

Vinegar, preferably apple cider

sugar

salt

blue cheese (I happened to have a smoky one from Wisconsin – yum!)

Technique

In the bowl you’ll serve from (or eat out of, if you’re like me, oft dining solo), mix up a blob of mayo for every “serving.” Add about half-to-equal that in vinegar, a generous pinch of sugar, and a less generous pinch of salt.

Stir that around until it’s mostly smooth. Crumble in however much blue cheese you want. Don’t be shy. Rinse the greens, leaf by leaf. Then, holding the rib at the big/wide end, shoosh your other hand down it on either side, freeing the more tender leaf from the stalk/rib. (Compost!) Tear the leaves into whatever size you want to eat and put them into the bowl. Wash and dry your hands. Yes, again. Then, bare-handed, toss the leaves with the dressing. No need to be gentle. So exciting! So messy!

If no one’s looking, lick your fingers over the sink. Wash and dry your hands. Again. If you want, you can add chopped roasted nuts on top, maybe some shredded apple, or a fistful of dried red things – cherries, cranberries, grapes,… I happened to have some quick-pickled beets, so I threw those on, too.

So quick this is, and virtually no clean-up! Now you’ve got all the time in the world. Go ahead,… Pounce!