These cookies are light in texture, but decadent in flavor. They are perfect for anyone who needs to avoid grains either for the Passover holiday or dietary reasons. A word of advice – it is a slightly temperamental recipe so measure everything exactly. I have tweaked the original recipe from French baker, Francois Payard, who created it to be a riff on a French macaron. His recipe, among other adaptations, uses a lot more walnuts. So feel free to go a little crazier with the add-ins. Also, if you are looking for a perfect ice cream sandwich cookie, this is it! Once you have made the recipe once, you can experiment with other flavors like almond extract, cinnamon and cayenne, cardamom, etc.
This is a twist of one of my favorite side dishes ever, roasted carrots with garlic yogurt. I love simply roasted vegetables as much as the next person, but sometimes I just want to elevate them and make them more interesting. This yogurt sauce also works with other spring vegetables like asparagus, radishes, sauteed snap peas, and spring onions. You can mix vegetables too for a beautiful spring holiday side dish!
This wedge salad has a creamy, tangy kefir dressing, drizzled over crunchy iceberg wedges. The crunchy iceberg lettuce is topped with delicious toppings of choice. A refreshing and flavorful twist on the classic dish.
What is a Wedge Salad?
A traditional wedge salad is a classic American restaurant salad featuring a crisp, refreshing wedge of iceberg lettuce drizzled with a traditional, creamy blue cheese dressing. It’s often found on the menu of steakhouses and is a delicious mix of flavors and textures. Typically, it’s topped with crispy bacon crumbles, juicy cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced red onions, extra blue cheese crumbles, and a sprinkle of fresh chives.
It can be served as a side salad or be transformed into a main course with additional protein (think chopped chicken and extra bacon). Today we’re making a classic wedge salad with a twist on the dressing. It’s made with a blend of Kefir (or Greek yogurt), herbs, and spices and turns out deliciously creamy, tangy, and addicting!
The cool, crunchy lettuce contrasts beautifully with the rich, creamy dressing and savory toppings, creating a simple yet satisfying salad.
Why You’ll Love This Wedge Salad
Just like fashion, there are food trends and dishes that come back into style. I think the Wedge Salad is making a comeback. My parents never bought iceberg lettuce because “it is all water,” my father said. But variety is the spice of life and sometimes I want some crunch and a juicy, crisp lettuce!
This easy wedge salad recipe hits all the marks for me and can be adapted to your taste. Do crumbled bacon or fried diced pancetta if you like, but smoked almonds are my favorite sub for bacon! I like the grated egg if you want to serve this for a luncheon, but I would skip the egg if you are serving it for dinner. Cherry tomatoes would be great here, too. Use your favorite fresh ingredients.
Like most salads, you can really make it your own, and serve it how you like. But don’t skimp on the dressing– drizzle generously and enjoy its perfectly tangy, creamy addition. Now, let’s make this beautiful salad!
Recipe Highlights
Elevate your salad game;
The kefir dressing is full of live probiotics great for gut health;
chopped fresh dill, chives, or parsley: You can use dried herbs if desired.
unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
Wedge Salad
head of iceberg lettuce: Outer leaves washed with cold water, but left whole or use baby romaine heads.
smoked almonds
optional toppings: avocado, fresh chives, hard-boiled eggs, gorgonzola or blue cheese crumbles, chopped bacon, red onion, and/or sliced grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes.
Step-by-Step Instructions
In a medium bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients until smooth.
Cut lettuce into four to six wedges, through the core with a sharp knife. The number of iceberg wedges you cut will depend on the size of the lettuce. Spread a spoonful of dressing on the bottom of a plate or platter. Place the lettuce wedges on top and pour the remaining dressing over the lettuce. Sprinkle with chopped almonds, avocado, chives, blue cheese, and/or grated hard-boiled egg, if desired.
Serve on individual plates with additional dressing if desired.
Recipe Tips
Wash the outside of the head of lettuce but leave it whole.
Keep the core face up and visible when cutting through it so that you ensure getting a wedge that holds together.
Coating the bottom of the serving dish with dressing allows for all parts of the wedge to be well-coated.
Use your favorite toppings like avocado, fresh chives, hard-boiled eggs, gorgonzola or blue cheese crumbles, crisp bacon, red onion, and/or juicy tomatoes.
Substitutions
Instead of kefir, you can use an equal amount of buttermilk or 3 ½ tbsp. milk and ½ tbsp. lemon juice OR ¼ cup mayonnaise and 1 ½ tbsp. lemon juice.
Greek yogurt or coconut yogurt
Iceberg lettuce or baby romaine heads
Smoked almonds or cooked bacon
Serving and Storage Tips
This iceberg wedge salad can be served as a perfect side dish to accompany any protein and baked potato (think restaurant style!) or as a main dish with additional cooked chicken or slices of bacon.
Once dressed, this salad is best served right away. If prepping for later, store prepared ingredients in separate containers and the dressing in its own airtight container. Assemble and dress when ready to serve. The salad components should be served within 48 hours and the dressing will last up to a week in the fridge.
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1 head iceberg lettuce, outside leaves washed, but left whole or baby romaine heads
½ cup smoked almonds, chopped
Optional: avocado
Fresh Chives
1-2 Hard-boiled eggs, grated (I use a box grater)
Gorgonzola or Blue cheese, crumbled (I used 2 or 3 ounces)
Instructions
In a medium bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients until smooth.
Cut lettuce into four to six wedges, through the core. The number of wedges you cut will depend on the size of the lettuce. Spread a spoonful of dressing on the bottom of a plate or platter. Place the wedges on top and pour remaining dressing over the lettuce. Sprinkle with chopped almonds, avocado, chives, blue cheese, and/or grated hard boiled egg, if desired.
Notes
Recipe Tips
Wash the outside of the head of lettuce but leave it whole. Keep the core face up and visible when cutting through it so that you ensure getting a wedge that holds together. Coating the bottom of the serving dish with dressing allows for all parts of the wedge to be well-coated. Watch this video on Instagram for a visual demo. Use your favorite toppings like avocado, fresh chives, hard-boiled eggs, gorgonzola or blue cheese crumbles, crisp bacon, red onion, and/or juicy tomatoes.
Substitutions Instead of kefir, you can use an equal amount of buttermilk or 3 ½ tbsp. milk and ½ tbsp. lemon juice OR ¼ cup mayonnaise and 1 ½ tbsp. lemon juice. Greek yogurt or coconut yogurt Iceberg lettuce or baby romaine heads Smoked almonds or cooked bacon
Serving and Storage Tips This iceberg wedge salad can be served as a perfect side dish to accompany any protein and baked potato (think restaurant style!) or as a main dish with additional cooked chicken or slices of bacon. Once dressed, this salad is best served right away. If prepping for later, store prepared ingredients in separate containers and the dressing in its own airtight container. Assemble and dress when ready to serve. The salad components should be served within 48 hours and the dressing will last up to a week in the fridge.
I had a collard greens salad for the first time last year at a restaurant and I had low expectations, but the server assured me I would love it. He was 100% right and I was blown away. Collard greens are softer than kale but heartier than lettuce and super, super nutritious. They have a mild flavor (unlike kale), but a soft, silky texture. I cannot stop making collard greens salads! You can try thinly sliced collard greens with any of your favorite dressings. My only caveat is that the greens do not have as long a shelf life as kale, so buy them and eat them! Once you fall in love with them, you can add them to soups and stir-fries too. By the way, this dressing is amazing and would be equally good on a chopped salad with romaine or iceberg. One of the other takeaways from this recipe is using finely crushed crackers or nut meal instead of toasted breadcrumbs for texture. I much prefer smaller crunchy things over big pieces.
Cacio e Pepe is one of my favorite pasta dishes but it contains no vegetables and is super easy to overeat! It is an ultra simple dish consisting of pasta, black pepper, Pecorino cheese, and oil/butter. Guess what? These ingredients also work smashingly well with cabbage ribbons! You will not trick anyone into thinking this is pasta, but it’s a delicious alternative if you’re looking for a lighter or a low-carb meal. If you’re not a fan of the cacio e pepe flavor profile, cook the cabbage in this method and add your favorite pasta toppings! Cabbage is one of the most underrated vegetables – it is incredibly nutritious, grown all year long, and very inexpensive for how much it yields.
Every time I made this red lentil tortilla soup at home and posted it on Instagram stories, I realized I still had not posted it on my site. I taught this soup in 2019 and have been making it on the regular ever since. Red lentils don’t hold their shape like brown, green or black lentils. They become kind of mushy but they taste just like regular lentils. I used them in this soup with Tex-Mex flavors and ingredients to create a soup that tastes like a tortilla soup. It’s filling but light, and just like tacos you can serve the soup with a great topping bar! Delish!
I made this recipe after seeing it on TikTok, and I devoured it for breakfast every day until it was gone. I love spanakopita and this crustless version was exactly the flavor and consistency I was familiar with but without all the phyllo + butter. I did not miss the crunchy phyllo dough, because the feta and dill is where all the flavor is! You might be questioning all the dairy since I don’t eat a lot of it. I do favor goat and sheep dairy because it’s easier to digest than cow, so I recommend you seek out goat or sheep feta. Cow feta is bland and dry anyway. You can also sub in goat gouda for the mozzarella and omit the Parmesan or swap in Pecorino (a sheeps milk cheese) for the Parmesan. My point is that it’s easy to make this vegan, egg-free, or cow’s milk-free. I am also going to use this formula and swap in other vegetables or leftovers!
This is a classic sauce that is so easy and everyone loves it. If you don’t eat pasta, serve it over zoodles, spaghetti squash or do what I do – a smaller amount of pasta supplemented with lots of cooked, seasonal vegetables (e.g. asparagus, carrots, peas, mushrooms.) You can make it spicy or not at all. One of the reasons I wanted to share this recipe is to show you different ways you can swap for heavy cream in a savory recipe. I never have heavy cream just hanging around the fridge, and I also never feel the need to buy it either. When I refer to a ”rich, homemade cashew milk” in the recipe, I’m talking about making it with a base like JOI and doubling the quantity of cashew base I usually use. Some people swap coconut milk for heavy cream and don’t detect a coconut flavor; some people do and don’t care for it. Lastly, the vodka is optional, but the alcohol does burn off so you can give this to children. And, the vodka actually does provide a balancing flavor to the tomatoes and helps to emulsify the sauce. Continue reading
These cookies are light in texture, but decadent in flavor. They are perfect for anyone who needs to avoid grains either for the Passover holiday or dietary reasons. A word of advice – it is a slightly temperamental recipe so measure everything exactly. I have tweaked the original recipe from French baker, Francois Payard, who created it to be a riff on a French macaron. His recipe, among other adaptations, uses a lot more walnuts. So feel free to go a little crazier with the add-ins. Also, if you are looking for a perfect ice cream sandwich cookie, this is it! Once you have made the recipe once, you can experiment with other flavors like almond extract, cinnamon and cayenne, cardamom, etc.
