Classic Lettuce Wedge Salad

I remember it like it was yesterday. On our third date, The Baron asked me to plan our date {he planned our previous dates so I guess he needed a break lol}. I felt under pressure because the last thing I wanted to do was do something lame. So, I ended up planning a day mini golfing followed by dinner at a local steakhouse. The Baron is a steak fan... so I knew going to a steakhouse would be a good choice. Well, it was a good choice. A great choice! So great, that we ended up ordering practically the same exact meal {I love how we have such similar tastes in food}. For our salad course, we had a traditional lettuce wedge salad. Every time I think of that salad, I think of that special date. I realized that as much as I enjoy this salad, I don't make it very often. So I did recently for a dinner party and this Classic Lettuce Wedge Salad was simple and delicious with its tangy blue cheese dressing, colorful toppings of diced tomatoes and red onion, and the best part - crumbled blue cheese...

Towards the end of the year, I hosted a Prime Rib Throwdown. Prime Rib is an annual meal we have during Christmas or New Year's Eve that's normally prepared by my brother. This year, I switched things up and we decided it would be fun to have ourselves a throwdown. We both prepared our own version of prime rib and blindly served it for friends to determine which was better. For the dinner, I prepared this salad and it was a perfect salad course leading into a prime rib dinner...

Classic Lettuce Wedge Salad
recipe slightly adapted from Serious Eats



Ingredients

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
• 6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound applewood-smoked bacon
• 1 head iceberg lettuce
• 8 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 cup diced red tomato

Cooking Directions

1. To make the dressing, add the buttermilk, sour cream, 4 oz blue cheese, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper to a blender or food processor and blend to combine. Set aside until ready to use.
2. To make the salad, heat a skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon until crisp. Line a metal tray with paper towels. Drain the bacon. Cool, crumble, and set aside.
3. Remove the root end from the lettuce, and cut the head into 4 wedges. Place one wedge each on four individual serving dishes. Dress each wedge with 2 tablespoons of the dressing. Garnish each with the crumbled bacon, cheese, onion, and tomatoes.