Something Bold, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Bleu

Saturday, we had the pleasure of attending Tyler and Lindsey’s beautiful, perfect wedding. The bride’s mom took care of Sophia and Ben when they were just little, and we’ve never known a nicer family. I’m a wedding crier anyway, but when I saw this:

All I could think of was this:

Given Ben’s sweat and my tears, we needed to rehydrate this week, so we made a watermelon salad. It is a bold move for someone who hails from Rocky Ford, Colorado, Melon Capital of the World, to do anything other than serve up some chilled, unadulterated slices of watermelon, but we live on the edge. We borrowed the recipe from Bon Appetit, and we all really liked the results. Ben even packed some for lunch the next day. 

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/watermelon-and-snap-pea-salad

The other recipe we borrowed this week was grilled chicken pitas from Hope’s Table, by Hope Helmuth. Ben has an uncanny ability to spot and fixate on highly caloric recipes, especially when it seems like it should be a healthy dish. The recipe calls for grilled chicken and fresh veggies in pita pockets. I said yes, with the plan to amp up the fresh veggies, but when I saw the picture in the cookbook, I instantly knew what drew Ben in. He succumbed to the siren’s call of mayo and sour cream. The whole meat, veggie, cheese mixture was bathed in homemade bleu cheese dressing. Ben is not a bleu cheese fan (“It tastes like blue”), so when I told him what he was looking at, he didn’t skip a beat. “Well, just make the bleu cheese dressing without the bleu cheese.” Duh. No wonder he’s the graduate. Phil and I ended up putting some bleu cheese in ours, but Ben’s was bleu-free. It was delicious!

Here’s our version:

Chicken Veggie Pitas

Bleu(less) Cheese Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon white vinegar

2 tablespoons bleu cheese crumbles (or not)

1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Combine all dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Grilled Chicken

6 chicken thighs

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine all ingredients and marinate while you prep the other ingredients. Grill chicken over high heat for 4 minutes on each side. Allow to cool 10 minutes or more, and cut into bite-sized pieces.

For pockets:

5-6 pita breads, halved

4-6 cups chopped fresh veggies (cucumbers, lettuce, grape tomatoes)

Chicken (see above)

Dressing (see above)

Combine grilled chicken with veggies and dressing. Stuff mixture into pita pockets. If your pita rips, place mixture on top, fold it over, and eat it like a taco. Persevere. You can do this.