Blue Cheese, Apples & Grapes Salad

Back to School Menu

I KNOW! This sounds like a bizarre combination - but just go with me here...

I had a HUGE craving for salad - but not any ordinary salad - one of my favorites! I made it and I knew something was missing. So - I got here on the blog to see what I was missing and to my surprise - I've never posted it!!! Probably bc it's so simple - it's not even a recipe - but man oh man does it hit the spot.

Blue Cheese, Apples & Grapes Salad

Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette

Diced apple (I love cosmic)

Purple grapes

Blue Cheese

Toasted slivered Almonds

Iceberg Lettuce

*A few REALLY IMPORTANT things here. I am a HUGE ADVOCATE of using really good ingredients. Brianna's is the best. Slivered almonds can be expensive - but if you buy them in the bulk section of your grocery store - and you only buy the exact amount you need - you aren't wasting money - and it literally takes 4 minutes to toast them!! ALSO - please, please, please don't buy the "blue cheese crumbles." Again, blue cheese can be expensive - but if you only buy a small wedge - you pay about the same BUT you don't compromise taste!!

Perfect Baked Potatoes

We had our Back to School dinner tonight. My husband is a meat and potatoes kinda guy - and so are our kids. Me - not so much LOL. The theme was "SUCCESS is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out" like "an apple a day" so our meal was based on apples.

We had pork tenderloin, baked potatoes (with sides served in apple dishes) and one of my favorite salads Blue Cheese, Apple & Grapes salad and hot apple crumble pie with vanilla ice cream - what a way to start the school year!!

Russet Potatoes - 1 per person
Butter
Kosher salt

Perfect Baked Potatoes

Scrub each potato clean and poke at least 10 times with a fork. Set on a sheet pan with aluminum foil and a wire cooling rack.

Bake for 25 minutes at 450 degrees. 

Remove from oven and brush with butter and sprinkle generously with kosher salt on the side facing up. Flip the potatoes over and repeat the process. The salt sticks better if you butter and then salt each one immediately before moving on to the next one.

Put them back in the oven for 40 minutes. Using an oven mitt or paper towel and squeeze gently to check for doneness. 

Serve with bacon, chives, sour cream, and cheese for the perfect bite!!