The Hotness

I'd like to make a suggestion. Stay away from me for the next 48 - 72 hours. Far far away. Really. Give me a WIDE girth. I am going to be cranky. Crazy. Cray-cray. Touched. Literally. I know it is super lame and uninteresting to talk about the weather (although I am obsessed), but the forecast for 97 degree highs in NYC for the next 2 days fills me with fear. And loathing. Unless you are offering me enough ice cream to bathe in or unlimited air conditioning, I'm not interested.

That also means that I won't be braising any meat, baking any cakes, or having anything to do with my oven or stove top. But I might open my fridge...just to stand in front of it. I have actually been trying to figure out what I could do with some leftover buttermilk that's been languishing in my fridge for...ever (without baking up some biscuits or coffeecake) so decided that salad dressing was the way to go, both from a calorie saving point of view and general heat avoidance.

The recipe that I stumbled upon was the best of many others that included mayo. Ummm...why would you use something low fat like buttermilk only to yuck it up with mayo? I even used low fat Greek yogurt in place of regular yogurt because it still has an amazing consistency. If you wanted to cut back on the cheese, I would either reduce the amount of buttermilk or increase the yogurt a bit until you have a nice creamy dressing. Dump it over a chopped salad filled with your fave ingredients and enjoy. Follow with a tub of ice cream. And a frozen margarita. Not necessarily together.




Buttermilk Dressing
Adapted from Martha Stewart

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
3/4 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
2 tablespoons plain low fat yogurt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1. Whisk together the buttermilk, cheese, yogurt, olive oil, zest, lemon juice, pepper, and salt in a medium bowl. Makes about 2 cups.