Wedgie!

Just because the wedge salad is just way to eat blue cheese dressing in a manner that is ore socially acceptable than spooning it out of the bottle does not mean that there aren't specific guidelines to be followed to insure a quality product. These salads are simple, refreshing, and at the same time, decadent and with quality ingredients it is really difficult to ruin this blue-cheese glutton's delight (although I have had more than my share of sub par wedgies).

The basic salad consists of two parts, iceberg lettuce and dressing. It must be iceberg lettuce. If there is something that ice-berg lettuce can do that no other lettuce can do better (even Boston and Bibb are better on sandwiches and burgers), it is the wedge salad. The dressing should be of the highest quality with nothing more than mayonnaise, buttermilk, lemon juice, and blue cheese. Although this salad is perfectly acceptable, most people desire more than that to precede their steaks. It is important, however, not to go over board. In my opinion, there are only four more things that can be included on a wedge without going overboard. And these should be used judiciously. They are, in no particular order: bacon, halved grape tomatoes, red onion, and coarsely ground pepper.

The assembly of this salad couldn't be more basic, but there are a few things worth noting. I have noticed that many restaurants are moving to a sixth sized, rather than a quarter sized wedge. This is unacceptable. It's iceberg lettuce, cut your costs elsewhere. Additionally, and this is true for all salads other than warm ones. Salad should be served on chilled plates. Many a wedge has been ruined having been served on a room temperature plate, or worse, one freshly removed from the dishwasher.