RECIPE: Beat end-of-summer heat with simple wedge salad
Of all the hearty, meal-sized salads out there, wedge salads are some of my favorites. Crisp, cool iceberg lettuce, creamy and tangy blue cheese dressing, smoky bacon and sweet and juicy tomatoes are an unbeatable combination. And the salad is not particularly difficult to adapt to a 5:30 Challenge recipe; all that really needs tweaking is the dressing.
Most blue cheese dressings combine a trio of creamy ingredients — buttermilk, mayonnaise and sour cream — with the cheese, which makes it impossible to include the remaining critical salad ingredients without going over the five-ingredient limit. Instead, strip down the dressing to its basics, buttermilk and blue cheese, and deliberately mash the cheese into the buttermilk to form a creamy texture. The texture is identical to traditional recipes, and, even better, this method allows the cheese to really shine.
My other tweak to traditional wedge salad recipes is to very lightly cook the tomatoes in bacon fat. It makes use of the hot skillet and rendered fat from crisping bacon, infuses the tomatoes with a hint of smoke, and, critically, softens the tomatoes enough to more easily integrate with the salad. Once you dig in, the tomatoes start to fall apart, mixing and mingling with the lettuce and bacon bits, further enhancing the harmony of the salad.
- 6 ounces thick-cut bacon, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 cup crumbled blue cheese (about 6 ounces)
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, quartered
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, spread bacon in an even layer and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp, 7 to 9 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer bacon pieces to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving fat in the skillet.
- Add tomatoes to hot fat and cook over medium heat, until tomato skins begin to pop and blister and tomatoes are just beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, smash about half the blue cheese with a fork. Add 1/4 cup buttermilk and mix, smashing more cheese as you go, until mixture is combined into a chunky paste. Gradually stir in remaining buttermilk to form a creamy dressing interspersed with blue cheese chunks. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Divide lettuce quarters among serving plates and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle dressing atop lettuce, then add with tomatoes and bacon. Top with plenty of additional pepper and serve. Serves 4.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving: 357 calories (percent of calories from fat, 69), 17 grams protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 28 grams total fat (13 grams saturated), 60 milligrams cholesterol, 1,077 milligrams sodium.Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
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