Iceberg Wedge with Blue Cheese Dressing

My uncle took us to Outback Steak house for dinner and my husband ordered an iceberg wedge salad with blue cheese dressing with his dinner. It was so good that I had to try to make my own. I found the dressing recipe on Food Network. Alton Brown's seem like the best one I could find. I liked his ingredients but I added hot sauce and squeeze of lemon. We all really loved it and now I will have a hard time eating the store bought dressing. Next time I will try it with buffalo chicken wings.

Ingredients for dressing

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

few dashes of hot sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Squeeze of a quarter of a lemon

Ingredients for salad

1 Iceberg lettuce

6 pieces of bacon

1 large tomato

1/4 cup red onion sliced thin

3 Tablespoons blue cheese crumbles

Directions for dressing

In a medium bowl add blue cheese, sour cream and buttermilk. Mix it together mashing the blue cheese in with other milk. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well with fork. Store in refrigerator for 1 week. 

Directions for Salad

I made 3 salads but you could make 4 depending on how big your wedge is and how much dressing you like on each salad. This recipe makes about 1 and 1/4 cup dressing so you might want to double it. 

Clean lettuce and cut into 4 pieces. Fry bacon in a large non stick pan and then set aside. slice red onion and tomatoes. I place each wedge on a plate and drizzle desired amount of dressing on each and then add bacon crumbles, diced tomato, red onion slices and top with more blue cheese crumbles. 

Dipping oil

My mom came to visit me one year in NYC and I took her to Stew Leonard's where she discovered a dipping oil that they sold near the bread area. It was so flavorful and delish that she couldn't stop thinking about it once it ran out. She read the ingredients on the top of the container and it was full of garlic, herbs, and Italian cheese. She was determined to make her own and now she has been making it for years. I just had to add it to my blog because everyone loves it and always wants to know what is in it. She makes a large batch but I'm going to downsize it and if you want to make more then you can double it.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon of fresh basil
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (you can add your favorite Italian cheese)
salt and pepper to taste
fresh lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon

Directions

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until combined. You can add a little more of each until you get desired taste. You do want it to sit for at least an hour so all flavors come alive and blend. If you make a double batch keep in fridge and take out 10-20 minutes before using so its not cold. Serve with your favorite bread. I also like to add it to my pasta dishes.

Olive Garden's Dressing.

I am not a big fan of Olive garden's pasta dishes however, I like going there just for the salad and soup. There dressing is just fabulous. I was on Pinterest and found a blog that copied this dressing. This is not the first blog I have found that attempted to copy it but, it is the first to get REAL close. I made it few nights ago and I am in heaven. Thank you Country Cook for making me oh so happy. I didn't tell my husband that I made this dressing I just waited to see if he noticed a difference. He was oohing and aahing and asking what is different with this salad. If you too like Olive Garden's dressing or just want to try a new one here is how simple it is to make. 

You start with one of my favorite store bought dressing mixes. Follow the directions on the back and then you will add. 

1tsp dried Italian Seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp mayo

1/4 C. Olive oil

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp water

Mix it all together well and add it to your basic dinner salad. I guarantee you will be very happy. 

Salad

I LOVE Salads. If I was told I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life I would choose SALADS. I Love the very complex salads to the very simple ones. When I moved to NYC I was appalled that most restaurants only served Greek or Caesar. In Seattle their salad spot on the menu is always very creative. For quite some time I've toyed with the idea of opening my own cafe that would serve food that represented the Seattle girl who loves that NYC influence. So it would have Sandwiches like a French dip, Rubens that you could actually get your mouth around, salads with and Asian American flair and others that had fresh buffalo mozzarella. Salads are great because you can put anything in them. I am a mom and wife and very busy so I don't make salads that are elaborate very often. This salad you see here in my basic go to for every night. 

Once I started Weight Watchers about 2 years ago I made sure to have a salad with almost every dinner. It is always a basic salad mix of leaf lettuce and romaine with whatever I have on hand. Most of the time it is just tomato and red onion but in this salad I had some green pepper that I added. Sometimes I have cucumber and add feta. The reason I eat salad with every dinner is because I love it, it is a great filler which keeps me from eating too much pasta, bread or rice, and it helps keep me regular. I hope that wasn't too much information :) 

I usually have a little vinaigrette dressing. The zesty Italian is one I grew up using and still love very much. I also love Stew Leonard's Balsamic. Don't get me wrong I do make my own vinaigrette but often I am so busy and the store bought in the fridge taste almost as good. I also love Ranch, Blue cheese, and Caesar,  but my gut says no, no, no. As you read my future blogs you will begin to see more salad and sandwich choices because they are what I am really good at and love to eat. Try to add more salads to your dinners and I guarantee you will feel lighter and more regular over time.