the wedge: a recipe

Several weeks ago, we ate an amazing wedge salad at a restaurant and, as usual, I found myself determined to remake it at home. 

Now to give you some background (do you really need background on my salad habits?), I almost never order a wedge salad because I'm not a big fan of iceberg lettuce.  But- this particular restaurant uses something delicious- Bibb, perhaps?- and it's a total game changer. 

For our salads, I chose a green leaf lettuce, mainly because it seemed the sturdiest.  I cut large chunks from it for each plate and just set it down carefully so the leaves mostly stayed together. 

For toppings, I used some halved grape tomatoes, crumbled cooked bacon, diced red onion, and crumbled blue cheese. 

I learned a trick to keep the onion taste from overpowering your entire salad- cut thin slices of onion and soak them in cold water for about 30 minutes.  Then just rinse the slices, dice, and use!  Steve and I could both tell the difference. 

I made my own blue cheese dressing (again trying to replicate the restaurant) and it turned out pretty great.  The only iffy part was the color, which was sort of gray.  At least I knew it was a natural gray though. 

I bought a nice chunk of blue cheese (don't use pre-crumbled!) and crumbled most of it into a measuring cup, saving some back for the salad.  I added salt, pepper, and a splash of butter milk.  Then I poured in some olive oil, whisking as I poured.  I tasted it and check the consistency as I worked and it ended up quite nice. 

I'm so excited about this weekend!  We're spending a few days away, hanging out with family and friends and (hopefully) enjoying some cool mountain air!  See you back here Monday!