So Many Dishes

My apologies to Elton John, but I couldn’t resist the title. I’m not talking about music (although it’s a great song) or my mental state. No, today’s recipe features blue cheese.

For me, blue cheese was an acquired taste, but one that I now love. I would eat blue cheese dressing occasionally, but it wasn’t my first choice. And eating blue cheese itself? No way! Then, when we were living in Prague, blue cheese—usually Gorgonzola—would turn up on a restaurant cheese plate. Our Sunday routine was to attend an English-language church service at one of the beautiful Baroque churches in central Prague, and then have a light lunch at one of the restaurants nearby. Our favorite place was Certovka, a restaurant on a terrace next to the canal of the same name.

Part of the charm of the restaurant, aside from its waterside location, was the narrow alleyway by which it’s accessed. It apparently is now called the “traffic light alley,” because the narrow walkway is barely wide enough to accommodate one person. The traffic light has been added since we were there.

We loved sitting by the water, sipping glasses of wine (Coke for the kids) and nibbling on a large cheese plate. I’ve read that the restaurant is now an overpriced tourist destination, but I have very fond memories of those cheese plates, which always included blue cheese and which I really enjoyed.

Blue cheese dressing is a standard condiment for Buffalo chicken wings. Buffalo chicken has inspired a host of other chicken dishes, such as Buffalo chicken pizza, Buffalo chicken dip, and our favorite, Buffalo chicken salad.

I’m not really a chicken wings fan, and I can’t think of when Ken last ordered Buffalo wings. But a Buffalo chicken salad is one of his standard orders when we go out for lunch. So when he was looking through the Bowls cookbook that I’ve cooked from recently and spotted a Buffalo chicken bowl, there was no question that it would end up on the menu.

Although the recipe title says bowl, it’s really a salad. What makes a bowl, at least according to America’s Test Kitchen, is the arrangement. It’s all about presentation. They suggest sectioning topping ingredients into piles to highlight their colors and textures. So that’s what I did. They have other recommendations, such as lining components in slices, or fanning out sliced ingredients, such as an avocado or fruit. I stuck with piles this time. I added some homemade croutons, using a leftover sourdough loaf, and the crunch was a nice addition. Ken was very enthusiastic about the final result, so we’ll be repeating this. It’s a perfect meal for a hot South Florida summer day.

Buffalo Chicken Bowl

• 3/4 cup blue cheese dressing
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce, or to taste
• 4 cups shredded coleslaw mix
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 carrot, peeled and shredded
• 1 celery rib, sliced thin on bias
• 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese (I was generous with the cheese)
• Croutons, optional

Whisk dressing and hot sauce together in a bowl. Toss coleslaw mix with half of the dressing to coat, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide dressed coleslaw mix among individual serving bowls, then top with chicken, carrot, celery, blue cheese, and croutons, if using. Dribble remaining dressing over top. Serve. Makes 2-3 servings.

Happy eating!