Romaine Heart “Wedge” Salads

Ah … the classic “Wedge” salad.

This ubiquitous menu item, a restaurant staple in the 1950s and 1960s and still a steakhouse favorite today, is typically comprised of a wedge of iceberg lettuce topped with blue cheese dressing and garnished with bacon and tomatoes. It’s also the only way in which I’ll willingly consume iceberg lettuce.

Yes, iceberg lettuce. Poor, poor iceberg lettuce.

Much maligned by the “foodie crowd” (myself included), iceberg lettuce tends to offer little in the way of flavor or nutrition. But when topped with tangy blue cheese dressing, salty bacon, and sweet cherry tomatoes, the cool, crisp bite of iceberg lettuce finds its sweet spot.

While you won’t find iceberg lettuce among the product mix of organicgirl good clean greens, they recently sent me another lettuce that’s a perfect substitute … romaine heart leaves.

organicgirl picks the sweetest, crunchiest inner romaine heart leaves then washes them three times before packaging them up … making “wedge” salad construction a snap. Still cool, still crisp, organicgirl’s romaine heart leaves are a fabulous, organic alternative to iceberg lettuce for this classic recipe!

Romaine Heart “Wedge” Salads

Ingredients:

• 1 8-ounce container organicgirl romaine heart leaves
• 1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
• 4 ounces blue cheese crumbles
• 4 bacon slices, cooked and roughly chopped
• 8 cherry tomatoes, quartered

Directions:

1. Sort through the romaine heart leaves, choosing four to five leaves of various sizes for each salad; stack leaves from smallest to largest, making four “wedges” total.

2. Place one salad “wedge” on a serving plate and lightly crush with the palm of your hand, slightly flattening “wedge.” Repeat with remaining salad “wedges.”

3. Drizzle each salad “wedge” with two tablespoons blue cheese dressing then top equally with blue cheese crumbles, bacon bits, and quartered tomatoes.

4. Serve.

Want to make romaine heart “wedge” salads for your next dinner party? Then enter my organicgirl good clean greens giveaway for a chance to win five containers of different organicgirl “good clean greens” products (a $25 value), a $30 gift card to local St. Louis grocery store Schnucks, and five different recipe cards, each using organicgirl greens. The giveaway is open until midnight {CST} Wednesday, August 14th, 2012, so enter today … and stay tuned for another great recipe made with organicgirl good clean greens tomorrow!

Disclosure: While I received an 8-ounce container of romaine heart leaves from organicgirl for free, all opinions expressed are my own.