Classic Wedge Salad w/Homemade Bleu Cheese Dressing

Well, here I sit on January 2, 2016 (!!!) and a fridge stuffed with leftovers: Christmas ham, New Year's Hoppin' Johns, chili, pecan pie, pumpkin bread, molasses cookies.  I said I'm not going to cook until it's all gone.

Not wanting to abandon this project, I realized there are so many "go-to" recipes that have only been posted once, often years ago.  So I've decided to go through over 1,000 recipes I've posted over the (almost) six years and pick out ones that we absolutely love and make over and over and over.  It's going to be hard to choose.

And in no particular order, the first is a salad I just love and the absolute best bleu cheese salad dressing.  This was originally posted on 10/16/12.

OK.....this has to be one of my all-time favorite salads.  Where in the world did iceberg lettuce get such a bad wrap?  Crisp, crunchy, cold.....be still my heart!!!  And oh, so simple.  Add on top of this the most luscious homemade bleu cheese dressing you'll ever taste.

So here's what you need to do.  Core your head of iceberg lettuce (do this by hitting the core of the lettuce on the edge of your sink.....the core will immediately come loose.  Run cold water through the opening, let it drain in your sink for an hour or so to make sure all the water is drained, then wrap it in a dish towel, put it in a plastic grocery bag, and let it chill for several hours for a perfectly crisp head of lettuce).

When completely chilled, slice a wedge of the iceberg lettuce, spread crumbled bacon (cooked or the stuff you can find in your salad dressing aisle, but real bacon, not artificial), and add some halved grape tomatoes (sorry......the regular toms don't work for me.....only grapes or cherries have the flavor I desire).  Top with bleu cheese crumbles.  Then plop some of the best Bleu Cheese Dressing that you'll ever taste on top.  This recipe came from The Chart House Restaurant which is a chain I believe is on the West Coast (I used to live in California and there were several there).  There is no better Bleu Cheese dressing in the world, in my book.  Again, crisp, crunchy, cold, and OH MY!!!!  So delicious.  A meal in itself in my mind.

CHART HOUSE BLEU CHEESE DRESSING

Place in a mixing bowl:

3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp pepper
scant 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
scant 1/3 tsp garlic powder

Blend 2 minutes at low speed.  Add:

1 1/3 cup mayo

Blend 1/2 minute at low speed.  Then blend 2 minutes at medium sped.  Crumble:

4 oz imported Danish bleu cheese (I used gorgonzola) into very small pieces.

Blend at low speed no longer than 4 minutes.

Important:  Makes a big difference if you let this sit at least 12-24 hours.  Makes approximately 2 1/2 cups.  This recipe can easily be but in half.