Weekend Cooking: Low-Carb and Learning to Like Blue Cheese #weekendcooking

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Weekend Cooking is a weekly feature hosted by Beth Fish Reads linking up food-related posts. Click here to check out Weekend Cooking posts from Beth Fish Reads and other blogs.

Blue cheese is moldy. And moldy cheese is disgusting. This has always been my way of thinking. The “blue” in blue cheese may be there on purpose; it may be pale blue speckles or dark blue clumps, but it’s still mold. When the block of cheddar develops blue spots, we toss it. Ditto for mozzarella, Monterey Jack, etc. But blue cheese is blue when you bring it home from the store. So, what…? It never goes bad?* This is a definite plus for an on-again, off-again cook like me whose fridge is so unorganized and full of leftover bits of stuff that an opened package of cheese might go missing long enough to develop mold.cover image of Quick Vegetarian Pleasures

After almost thirty years of a mixed marriage (one spouse eating blue cheese and the other disgusted by it) and, now, one spouse on a low-carb diet, I decided to make a low-carb appetizer that called for blue cheese to bring to an event, so my husband would have something to snack on there other than cookies or tortilla chips. It would have to be quick and easy to make, because I didn’t have much time before we had to leave. When I saw the aptly named “Blue Cheese Log” with just four ingredients in Quick Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin, I knew that was it. Combine softened but still cool cream cheese with crumbled blue cheese, roll into a log, cover with minced walnuts and parsley. I cut some lower-carb pita bread wedges and arranged them on the plate, and it was beautiful to behold!

Photo of Blue Cheese Log with pita wedges

Unfortunately, with minced, fresh parsley from the garden, freshly minced nuts, and good brands of blue cheese and and cream cheese, this appetizer was so appealing and delicious, that when I visited the food table to get some for my husband to try, there was just a smidgen of it left – barely enough to smear on the one tiny pita wedge that was also left on the plate!

Since the next day was Father’s Day, I halved the recipe and made it again for just the two of us. So quick to make, there was plenty of time to try a Saveur recipe for Strawberry Moonshine Julep to go with it. I’m still not ready to crumble blue cheese on my salad yet, but I’m ready to try some other recipes calling for blue cheese. (I guess I’ll eat just about anything if it has walnuts on it!)Photo of Blue Cheese Log with Julep

Because of the pita, this appetizer isn’t actually low-carb, but since it’s lower in carb than other snacks, it might be OK for an occasional treat. Next time, I might serving the Blue Cheese Log with raw veggies like slices of fresh zucchini from the garden or farm stand to make it more authentically low-carb.

 *This is just a joke! Blue cheese can and does go bad. See this online guide for what foods to throw away when moldy, if you ever consider whether the rest of a food can be eaten if part of it has developed a spot of mold and don’t just automatically throw the whole thing away.

P.S. If you just stopped by for Weekend Cooking, why not check out my Big Brother Giveaway post for the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop? It’s even appropriate for Weekend Cooking!

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