It’s summer salad season and I’m in the groove. We’ve got tons of lettuce and herbs in the garden and I’m harvesting nonstop. Being able to go out to my backyard and just pick food for free(!) never gets old. So this week on Minnesota Live, I whipped up a giant Cobb Salad that is totally filling and has a couple of fun twists to the dressing – namely the roasted garlic.

It’s an extra step that’s SO worth it – it gives the dressing depth and some sweetness. Plus, make several bulbs and you can use it in other recipes or just spread on a crostini. Here’s the recipe!

Killer Cobb Salad with Roasted Garlic & Herb Blue Cheese Dressing

To make 1 pint of dressing, put the following ingredients in a blender:

1/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup herbs (such as dill, chives, parsley)

3 large cloves roasted garlic (to roast: cut the top 1/2 inch off an entire garlic bulb. Place in a shallow baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with foil and roast at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, until browned and soft. Let cool before adding to the blender)

juice of one small lemon 1 tbsp olive oil

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Then fold in about 4 ounces of crumbled blue cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Dressing will keep for about 1 week, refrigerated. Use on salads, as a dressing in a wrap or in pasta salads. Also great as a dressing for a simple chicken salad instead of plain mayo.

To make the salad, layer fresh greens in the bottom of a large, shallow serving bowl. Add chopped cucumber, tomatoes, sliced hard boiled egg, chopped cooked bacon and chopped avocado around the perimeter of the greens and more blue cheese in the center. Drizzle the entire salad with dressing. Would also be delicious with chicken, shrimp or steak or with the addition of different vegetables!