Classic Wedge Salad – Throw Back Thursday

It’s Throw Back Thursday –

The first people to cultivate iceberg lettuce were the ancient Egyptians. They used it to make oil from the seeds and the succulent leaves were a prized ingredient on the tables.

These crisp heads traveled the world over the centuries and became quite popular here in the U.S. in the 1920s. Marion Harris Neil offered the first written version of the Wedge in her cookbook, Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing Dish Recipes. By the 1920s this salad was being offered in restaurants all over the country.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that wedge salad evolved to what we know it today. Blue cheese crumbles and bacon were added and, voilà, the classic wedge salad.

Sadly this crispy wedge of goodness started to lose favor in the 1970s, but with new varieties of iceberg coming out, it’s starting to have a renewed popularity. So go ahead, make a classic and restart the trend!!

Here’s How to Do it:

Cook the bacon, low and slow, in a cast iron skillet. Cook it for 10 to 15 minutes to fully render the fat and crisp up the slice. Drain on paper towels and chop into bits. Set aside.

Remove the soft, outer leaves on a head of iceberg lettuce. Carefully cut it into quarters. Make sure you wait until just before serving. Once you cut lettuce, the air starts to oxidize the leaves. Carefully remove most of the core on each quarter, but leave just a little to hold the leaves together.

Lay each piece on a separate plate.

Sprinkle the blue cheese crumbles evenly over each piece.

Drizzle 2 – 3 Tablespoons of blue cheese dressing over each piece. Some people like more dressing than others, so you be the guide.

Divide the chopped bacon and top each piece,

followed by 1 Tablespoon of capers. A little fresh cracked pepper is an optional touch.

Get out your knife and fork and take a bite!

© Copyright 2021 The Lazy Gastronome

5 from 7 votes

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Classic Wedge Salad

A crisp cool iceberg lettuce salad.

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, retro, tbt, Vintage

Keyword: bacon, blue cheese, capers, iceberg, lettuce, retro, tbt, vintage

Servings: 4 Servings

Author: HelenFern

Ingredients

• 1 head iceberg lettuce
• 5 slices bacon
• 1 cup blue cheese salad dressing
• 3/4 - 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 4 Tablespoons capers

Instructions

1. Cook the bacon, low and slow, in a cast iron skillet. Cook it for 10 to 15 minutes to fully render the fat and crisp up the slice. Drain on paper towels and chop into bits. Set aside. 

2. Remove the soft, outer leaves on a head of iceberg lettuce. Carefully cut it into quarters. Make sure you wait until just before serving. Once you cut lettuce, the air starts to oxidize the leaves. Carefully remove most of the core on each quarter, but leave just a little to hold the leaves together.

3. Lay each piece on a separate plate.

4. Sprinkle the blue cheese crumbles evenly over each piece. 

5. Drizzle 2 - 3 Tablespoons of blue cheese dressing over each piece. Some people like more dressing than others, so you be the guide.

6. Divide the chopped bacon and top each piece, followed by 1 Tablespoon of capers. A little fresh cracked pepper is an optional touch.

7. Get out your knife and fork and take a bite!

Recipe Notes

© Copyright 2021 The Lazy Gastronome

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