Recipe Wednesday: Red, White & Bleu! White Bama BBQ Sauce, Easiest Red BBQ Sauce & Four Ingredient Bleu Cheese Vinaigrette

When it's hot, no one wants to heat up the kitchen! And on a holiday, you want to spend time with your family, not on food prep. Save money too, since these recipes don't have complicated ingredient lists a mile long. Two of them have only FOUR ingredients. Just fire up the grill, let it settle down to coals, and throw on some meat and veggies. Drizzle the dressing over your plate of hot grilled veggies. Carve up the finished meat and serve it on hot grilled rolls with toppings and homemade BBQ sauces. Our new favorite is this regional specialty from northern Alabama, a white BBQ sauce. It's wonderful on chicken, served up on your favorite rolls with dill pickle slices. Simple and fabulous - Happy Birthday America! Have a wonderful Fourth everyone!

WHITE BAMA BBQ SAUCE - INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 c. mayo, 1/3 c. white vinegar, 1 tsp. pepper, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1 crushed garlic clove DIRECTIONS: Stir ingredients together and chill. Makes almost 2 cups. ***************************************************************************************************************************************** If you like it classic, this easy BBQ recipe is for you! Tweak it with some fresh minced herbs like sage for pork, or tarragon for chicken.

BEST BASIC BBQ SAUCE - INGREDIENTS: 1 c. ketchup, 1/4 c. packed brown sugar, 1 Tb. vinegar, fresh herbs DIRECTIONS: Stir together ingredients and chill in the fridge. For tweaking, add dashes of garlic, onion, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, liquid smoke, smoked paprika, honey or jelly or jams (We love apricot or orange marmalade!) ************************************************************************************************************************************** Toss some sliced yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and onions on the grill (or whatever you have on hand!). Brush with oil and salt & pepper if you'd like. Grill them until done, with a few char marks. Splash this easy dressing over the platter and serve!

FOUR INGREDIENT BLEU CHEESE VINAIGRETTE - INGREDIENTS: 1/2 c. vinegar (can use balsamic), 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp. dijon mustard, small container (5 oz.) bleu cheese crumbles DIRECTIONS: Whisk first 3 ingredients together until well blended, then lightly stir in the bleu cheese crumbles. You can also make this dressing with fresh minced herbs instead of the cheese. Basil is yummy over tomatoes, and mint or dill is wonderful on cucumbers! *************************************************************************************************************************************** "LIberty is like rich food and strong wine: the strong natures accustomed to them thrive and grow even stronger on them; but they deplete, inebriate and destroy the weak." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau