Bacon and Blue Wedge Salad

My husband and I took advantage of the long weekend and drove out to Colorado for a Mountainous mini-vacation escape. We saw the Rockies, learned that I am NOT built for hiking (insert sweating), and drank lots of beer. Shout out to the breweries we toured: Boulder Beer Company, Avery Brewing, and Coors delicious, delicious, and delicious. But really though…I am way more cut out for driving up Mt. Zion than I am Hiking up the Flatirons in 90+ Degree heat. We also spent a couple hours just sitting on the rocks next to Clear Creek (Where Gold was discovered! Not by us though…), with our toes in the COLD water and watching the tubers. There was endless beauty and entertainment.

However, coming back from any amount of time away means detox! Booze AND Food detox, so how do I do that? Well… I still like to wind down after work with a little wine; so not a full detox, but I can still cut down on food intake without compromising on flavor.

It seems that the world is divided into three groups: Those who love a wedge salad, those who hate it, and those who are like “ummmm can the salad be something fried instead?” I fall into two of those categories! The “ummmm can this be fried instead?” I would literally turn into a mozzarella stick due to intake volume, if that was physically possible. Also the, LOVE wedge salad category, and lucky for me, my husband has always been a long time wedge salad fan.

What I love about a wedge salad is that iceberg lettuce is inexpensive, and the overall salad offers a BEAUTIFUL restaurant quality presentation. But they need to be paired with good ingredients and a homemade dressing. Homemade dressings are super simple, and typically can be made with ingredients you already have on hand. They are also better for you than store bought. You can control the ingredients, and stay away from the unnecessary preservatives.

So here we go the Bacon and Blue Cheese Wedge Salad!

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First, we want to make the dressing! This will allow it to refrigerate for about 20 min while you cook the bacon and prep your salad.

In a blender (I use my single use Ninja), combine: Mayo, Sour cream, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl or mason jar, and mix in the blue cheese crumbles. You can add as much as you want to make it super chunky, or just a little bit. Up to you! I like mine in the middle-medium chunk :-). Cover and put in the fridge. This will last about 1 week in the fridge.

Mix, mix, MIX, Mix…

Next, cut bacon* into ½ (ish) inch pieces and cook in a skillet, until just crispy. Drain and cool on paper towels to remove the excess grease.

*Remember cutting bacon is easily accomplished using your trusty kitchen shears!

While the bacon is cooking, prep your lettuce. Remove from the plastic and turn over. Cut out the core of the lettuce, and run under cold water. I like to do this for a minute or two. Whenever the head of lettuce feels full, turn over and drain, then repeat. Until you feel you have washed it enough. Remove any bruised pieces. I normally remove the 1^st and maybe second layer of the head, depends on the freshness.

When you have thoroughly rinsed and drained, place in a bowl with the side you cut out down, then place in the fridge. You want to keep your lettuce cold until the absolute last minute.

Next, wash and half your cherry tomatoes, set aside. I prefer my cherry tomatoes cool, so after I have sliced them I place them in the fridge. This is optional, as room temp is correct for tomatoes, but I tend to think “correct” is whatever your preference is!

This year was our first ever garden. I say “our,” but it’s really my husbands “baby” he has been with these cute little tomatoes since they were seeds, germinating them in paper towels in one of our guest rooms!

Ok! Your bacon should be done and drained by now. So let’s get the lettuce back out and wedge it!

Cut the head of lettuce into quarters- four equal portions. *If making this for less than four, cut in half and leave one half in-tact. It will save better in the fridge that way.

Assembly time!

Place each portion, point side up on your salad bowl/plate. Next, drizzle that wonderfully delicious Blue Cheese dressing over the lettuce. Because you will be cutting this salad when you eat it I like to be liberal with my drizzling and get some all over the plate.

Then, add your remaining toppings: Bacon, tomatoes, and salted sunflower kernels.

 

 

Bask in your restaurant quality salad, and cut right in!