I still remember the first time we ever had a classic wedge salad with blue cheese dressing. In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago…
One weekend when David and I were living in Louisa, Virginia, (long before The Mountain Kitchen existed) David and I went to Charlottesville to explore the Downtown Mall. If you are not familiar with Charlottesville, the Downtown Mall is a very popular pedestrian mall. There is a mix of restored and renovated buildings where visitors can enjoy vibrant collection shops and restaurants.
It was getting close to suppertime. As usual, David was starting to get “hangry” from all the walking and exploring we had done. That’s when we stumbled across a restaurant called, The Downtown Grille. From the looks of the outside, we figured it would be a good place to grab a burger or something. However, when we entered the door we immediately felt underdressed for such an establishment. In fact, I just knew they were going to kick us out for not being up to the dress code. Surprisingly, we were greeted with a smile and the hostess led us to our table. We were promptly greeted by our waitress and we were presented with the menus and our drink order was taken.
When the waitress went to get our beverages, we were practically choking on the prices on the menu. We were actually debating on whether or not to make up an excuse to leave abruptly or just leave before she could come back the drinks. The waitress came back before we had made a decision to leave or not. She sat our drinks on the table and immediately rattled out that the specials. The special for this particular evening was a Chicago USDA Prime, Dry Aged Ribeye… before she could even finish the sentence, David blurted out, “Yes, we’ll have two of those!”,without any hesitation whatsoever.
A couple of years prior, David came along with me on a business trip to Chicago, where we feasted on glorious dry aged ribeyes. That trip changed our opinion of good steak forever!
This meal was one for the record books. We have talked about going back for ages and now I know that reliving that experience through this blog post we are going to have to make our visit back happen ASAP!
In honor of that special dinner, I recreated that delicious classic wedge salad with homemade blue cheese dressing to enjoy at home.
Crisp iceberg lettuce wedges topped with creamy blue cheese dressing, smoky bacon, and juicy tomatoes. This salad is simple yet so delicious you’ll think you are at a swanky steakhouse!
Classic Wedge Salad With Blue Cheese Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 head iceberg lettuce
- 4 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes diced
- 1 cup blue cheese dressing
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles
Instructions
- Dice the tomatoes and place the diced tomatoes in a small bowl. Sprinkle liberally with salt and toss to combine*. Allow the tomatoes to sit 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature, then drain, using a small strainer or spooning the tomatoes out of the bowl with a slotted spoon.
- Cook the bacon in a medium skillet over medium-low heat until crisp; about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the bacon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to cool and drain. When the bacon has cooled, crumble or break into small pieces.
- Meanwhile, prepare the lettuce. Starting with a whole head of lettuce, remove any outer leaves that are wilted or floppy. Cut the head of lettuce in half and then in half again making 4 equal size wedges. Quarter the lettuce through the stem. The stem helps the wedges stay together.
- Place the wedges on individual serving plates or bowls. Top the wedges with blue cheese dressing, bacon crumbles, tomatoes, and extra blue cheese crumbles.
Debbie - MountainMama says
I adore a classic wedge salad!!! I’m going to have to make this asap as I have all the ingredients at home – thanks for the reminder!
The Mountain Kitchen says
Hey Mountain Sister! I hope you are staying warm. Enjoy the salad! 😉
Judith Graber says
Love this kind of salad – sometimes I will use slices of lettuce versus wedges (thanks Ina).
The Mountain Kitchen says
Thanks, Judi! Yes slices sure makes eating it s lot easier!