Wedge Salad

Conjure up some steakhouse nostalgia and treat yourself to a classic iceberg wedge salad. Our version sticks to the wedge’s tried and true basics — crisp iceberg, crunchy bacon, and flavorful bleu cheese. But we’ve amped up the flavor with a homemade smoked bleu cheese dressing and sweet, smokey candied bacon. This updated wedge salad is fresh and flavorful, and can be served with steak, seafood, or just about anything!

How to Prep Iceberg Lettuce

The classic lettuce choice for a wedge salad is iceberg. Its crisp texture and mild flavor make it the ideal blank canvas for the all-important toppings. You could use another type of lettuce like romaine or butter, but the dense and crunchy iceberg holds up perfectly to the bleu cheese and bacon. For us, it just has to be that classic wedge of iceberg with creamy bleu cheese dressing to create the most satisfying contrast of textures.

To prepare your iceberg for the wedge salad, here’s all you’ll need to do:

• Select: Choose a head of iceberg that is firm and feels heavy for its size. It should show no signs of bruising or wilting.
• Rinse: Remove any outer leaves that look less than perfect and rinse under cold water. If you really want to make extra sure your lettuce is clean, you can rinse it a second time after quartering. Just make sure you let it drain thoroughly on a paper towel as you don’t want your eventual salad to end up watery.
• Quarter & core: With the head of lettuce upright on your cutting board slice it in half from top to bottom, going through the core and stem. Then, with the flat side down on your cutting board, remove the core by slicing in at an angle.
• Store: If you’re not serving the salad immediately, arrange the wedges on your serving platter and cover them with a damp paper towel. Store them in the refrigerator up to a day in advance of when you want to assemble the salad.

Recipe Ingredients

Because this nostalgic recipe is so straightforward, go for the good stuff when selecting your ingredients. Look for a high-quality wedge of bleu cheese at a cheese counter rather than the packaged kind, often found in 8oz plastic containers near the pre-shredded parmesan. The same goes for the bacon— opt for thick-sliced, center-cut bacon rather than thin, generic slices.

To make this wedge salad with candied bacon and homemade bleu cheese dressing you’ll need:

• Iceberg lettuce: The absolutely classic choice for a wedge salad.
• Smoked bleu cheese: Go for a bleu cheese thats smokey, funky and definitely not pre-crumbled. You’ll use the bleu both for the creamy dressing and to add extra crumbles on top. If you can’t find smoked bleu cheese, you can use regular, good quality bleu cheese and add a few drops of liquid smoke to the dressing.*
• Sour cream: for a tangy, creamy base to the dressing.
• Mayonnaise: Use a good quality, full fat mayo.
• Milk: to thin out the dressing.
• Red wine vinegar: provides acidity and brightness to balance the richness of the cheese and mayo. You could also sub fresh lemon juice.
• Worcestershire sauce: A few dashes of will add depth of flavor and complexity.
• Fresh garlic: grated on a microplane so it will melt into the dressing base.
• Chives: Finely chopped chives are used both in the bleu cheese dressing and as a garnish. The chives provide that bit of sharpness without the strong bite of red onion.
• Bacon: Because you’ll be candying the bacon, get thick slices to hold up to the brown sugar coating.
• Brown sugar: A perfect foil to the salty bacon.
• Tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes are preferred as they have a great pop of texture and are sweet all year round.
• Kosher salt & black pepper: We prefer Diamond kosher salt. Always use fresh cracked black pepper for the best flavor.

How to Plate a Wedge Salad

The beauty of a wedge salad is all in the plating. A tall tower of iceberg piled high with a colorful confetti of toppings is what makes a wedge so exciting to eat. You can plate your wedge either individually or family style. If you are just serving a few guests, plate it up individually on small salad plates. If you are serving a crowd, it makes a beautiful presentation to arrange all the wedges together on one large platter.

Either way, plate the iceberg with the cut sides facing up. Spoon the smoked bleu cheese dressing generously over the top of the lettuce, allowing it to cascade down the sides. Sprinkle the candied bacon pieces over the dressing, distributing them evenly. Then add the cherry tomatoes, chives and even more of those smokey bleu cheese crumbles. Be sure to scatter these toppings evenly over the lettuce wedge, making sure everything is well distributed. Finally, finish with a generous amount of fresh cracked black pepper.

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