Wedge Salad With Swicy Bacon and Blue Cheese Vinaigrette
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Wedge salads are a classic steakhouse favorite and typically use iceberg lettuce, bacon and crumbled blue cheese. While tasty, using just those three components makes the dish quite basic in flavor and color. I wanted to do a fresh take on it, so I came up with this recipe for Wedge Salad With Swicy Bacon and Blue Cheese Vinaigrette.
To brighten and freshen things up, I added colorful fresh vegetables like radishes, cucumbers and roasted tomatoes. Then, instead of blue cheese crumbles, I made a blue cheese vinaigrette, which has a beautiful red wine vinegar base, blue cheese and fresh basil. Served with the lettuce wedge, it’s like a late summer dream.
Preparing the Salad
When choosing the lettuce for this salad, choose a smaller head. For this recipe we used a small head of butter lettuce, but a small head of iceberg or baby romaine would also work great.
To prep it, pull off the outer leaves and then, using a 7-3/4″ Petite Slicer, cut the head of lettuce lengthwise through the core so it keeps its shape, to create four wedges.
Thinly slice the English cucumbers with the 6″ Vegetable Knife.
To thinly slice the radishes, use a knife with a shorter blade, like Cutco’s Santoku-Style 3″ Paring Knife.
Slice some Campari tomatoes in half with a Trimmer and roast until softened. Roasting will enhance their flavor, bringing out their sweeter side for yet another flavor sensation.
One of the most special ingredients for the salad is what I call “swicy” bacon. To make it, coat bacon with a blend of my P.S. Flavor™ Creole Kitchen seasoning and some Sugar in the Raw®, and then cook it in the oven until it is a deep red-brown color and crisp. As it cooks, it becomes this craveable, delectable treat that you could even eat on its own. In fact, I challenge you to not eat it all before it gets on the salad.
The Vinaigrette
This vinaigrette is not your typical blue cheese dressing. The red wine vinegar adds a sweet, tangy flavor that balances well with the creamy and earthy blue cheese. A touch of that Creole seasoning, Dijon mustard, minced garlic and honey also add to the layers of flavor, as does some fresh basil. You can chop that up with a sharp 7-5/8″ Petite Chef knife.
The vinaigrette is incredibly easy to make. Puree all but the olive oil together and then stream in the oil to finish.
Plating the Salad
Now it’s time to plate the salad and watch the oohs and aahs roll in.
You can drizzle the vinaigrette on the plate, place the wedge on top and then add the roasted tomatoes, fresh vegetables and swicy bacon. Or, place the wedge on the plate, top with the other ingredients and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Either way, this Wedge Salad With Swicy Bacon and Blue Cheese Vinaigrette pops with color and flavor.
It is a refreshing, scrumptious salad that I’m sure you’ll enjoy all year long.
Ingredients
For the blue cheese vinaigrette:
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon P.S. Flavor!™ Creole Kitchen or Creole seasoning of choice
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 6 ounces small-crumble blue cheese
- 3-5 sprigs fresh basil, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
For the swicy bacon:
- 1 pound thick-sliced bacon, cold not room temperature
- 1/4 cup Sugar In The Raw®
- 2 tablespoons P.S. Flavor!™ Creole Kitchen or kosher salt and black pepper
For the salad:
- 2 small (1-pound) iceberg or butter lettuce heads, outer leaves removed, each head cut through core into 6 wedges
- 1 1/2 cups blue cheese vinaigrette
- 2 English cucumbers, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 6 medium radishes, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
- 6 Campari tomatoes, halved and roasted
- 6 slices swicy bacon, each slice cut into 6 pieces
- Fresh basil leaves, to garnish
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Make the vinaigrette:
- In a blender or food processor, puree the garlic, seasoning, vinegar, mustard and honey. Slowly drizzle in oil.
- Transfer the dressing to a bowl. Stir in crumbled blue cheese and basil.
Make the swicy bacon:
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Place cold bacon on a parchment paper-lined sheet tray.
- Combine sugar and spice
- Coat top of bacon with half of the spice mix, evenly covering all surfaces. Flip and coat with remaining sugar and spice evenly on bacon. Ensure bacon is fully coated “coast to coast.”
- Roast bacon approximately 10 minutes. Remove from oven and drain excess fat into a disposable container.
- Flip bacon and return to oven, roast another 8-10 minutes.
- Cook until deep red-brown color. The tips will be almost dark and crisp.
- Remove pan from oven. Pour excess fat into a disposable container.
- Transfer hot bacon to a fresh parchment paper-lined tray, single layer.
- Allow to cool and crisp.
Make the salad:
- Arrange lettuce wedges on one or two serving platters. Spoon 1 cup vinaigrette evenly over cut sides of wedges. Top with cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes and swicy bacon.
- Garnish with fresh basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with remaining dressing.
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