Here you have it, folks—a summer salad that's bursting with flavors and textures. The combination of lettuce, crispy bacon, and blue cheese creates a harmony of tastes that will make your taste buds sing with delight. I also like to change it a bit by adding nuts and apples. Whip up this salad for your next backyard barbecue, potluck, or a refreshing weeknight dinner. It's the perfect way to celebrate summer's bounty and savor the sunny season. So, go ahead, grab your salad bowl, and enjoy this scrumptious creation. Happy summer salad-ing!
Ingredients
Iceberg lettuce - if you're not a fan of wedge salad, just chop your own it's so much fresher than bagged
.5 lb. of thick sliced bacon
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries - totally optional
1 large smith apple, chopped. Honeycrisp never disappoint, again optional
Chopped egg (optional
1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, and the final optional ingredient, just to mix it up a bit
I like lots of blue cheese on this, but cheddar works too if you aren't a fan of blue cheese
I'm going to give you two options for dressing, of course Blue Cheese Dressing is the classic, but if you don't care for it, the Sweet Balsamic is ahhh-mazing...
Classic Blue Cheese Dressing
4 ounces blue cheese crumbles
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon parsley chopped
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Steps
In a small bowl add the blue cheese crumbles and buttermilk. Mash the crumbles with a fork.
Add in the sour cream, mayonnaise, parsley, garlic powder, and salt and pepper and whisk. Add in more buttermilk if you want a thinner consistency.
Sweet Balsamic Dressing
1/2 cup canola oil*
1/3 cup sugar or more to taste
4 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard (I actually prefer a squeeze of yellow or Grey Poupon mustard)
Few twists of fresh cracked pepper, always use fresh cracked, the flavor just zings
Directions
Put all of the ingredients in a jar, put on the lid and shake until blended.
*I use canola oil instead of olive oil so that I can refrigerate what I have left. Olive oil congeals in the fridge, canola oil doesn't.
I added OXO links. I'm really loving this smaller size salad spinner this summer. Why? Because you can wash your lettuce, spin it dry and put the whole container in the fridge. Works for me and I'm such a fan of OXO products, they never disappoint...
#SummerSaladInspiration
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#jancooks
#jancooksrealfood
