With the exception of maybe the Caesar salad, there isn’t a more iconic salad than the Wedge Salad. This salad dates back to the early 1900s when it was a featured salad on many restaurant menus and in home cookbooks. It continued to grow in popularity over the decades. It makes sense, seeing as even non-salad eaters enjoy a good wedge. Why? The crunchy lettuce, creamy blue cheese, and crispy bacon offer a flavor and textural masterpiece.
Now, many places have their own variation—including apples, figs, fried onions, pickled onions, crispy prosciutto…. We decided to take a more traditional route because you really can’t beat the classic flavor combination.
To start, the salad always has cold, crunchy lettuce. Traditionally, a wedge cut from a head of iceberg (hence the name) is used, but from a sensory standpoint, what is really needed is cold, crunchy lettuce. Sure, iceberg wedges are fine for this dish, but when looking for the BEST cold, crunchy greens, our Essential Green Leaf is a sure winner.
So, for this wedge-less wedge salad, the greens are topped with diced tomatoes to add color, flavor, and acid to cut the richness of the coming bacon. Next, the blue cheese is crumbled on top in all its creamy and pungent glory. Followed is the thick, cooked bacon, giving texture and salty, meaty, smoky goodness. It all is drizzled with a creamy dressing. In our case, we used a super easy homemade buttermilk dressing. Finally, we topped it with chopped chives to give a light, bright pop of garlicky-onion flavor. YUM. A masterpiece indeed—if we do say so!
Some may say this can’t be considered a wedge salad without the actual wedge. To those people I’d say: Essential Green Leaf is cold and crunchy, with just enough leafy green to offer nutrition and flavor. In other words, much like the Wedge Salad, Greenswell Growers’ Essential Green Leaf is the perfect lettuce for those who love lettuce… and for those who don’t!
What You’ll Need:
Buttermilk Dressing
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Essential Green Leaf “Wedge” Salad
- 1 tray Greenswell Growers Essential Green Leaf
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
- ¼ cup blue cheese, crumbled
- 1/3 cup thick bacon, cooked and crumbled
- Buttermilk dressing, to taste
- 2 teaspoons chives, sliced
- Salt and fresh pepper, to taste
How to Make It:
- First, make the Buttermilk Dressing by whisking all the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
- On a medium platter, spread out all the Essential Green Leaf.
- Top the greens with quartered tomatoes, followed by crumbled blue cheese and crumbled bacon.
- Spoon dressing over the salad before sprinkling with chives and finishing with salt and fresh cracked pepper.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Serves: 2–4
Time: 15 minutes
