Loaded Wedge Salad and a Life Update

Loaded Wedge Salad! This might be the only time I eat iceberg lettuce – ha! Check out my loaded Wedge Salad! It’s so easy to make and delicious!

Friends, it’s November. N O V E M B E R!!! Are you kidding me? It’s like we blinked and the holidays are here and soon, this year will be coming to an end. 

I haven’t posted a new recipe in a while. I’ve been busy being a mom, to Phoebe, Madeline and my fur babies: Cinnamon and Coco. I’ve also if I’m being honest, haven’t really felt inspired to cook anything new. I actually already have quite an extensive recipe index so I’ve been spending some time remaking some of those.

What I’m Doing For Me 

I recently celebrated a birthday and shared some thoughts. I know too many women (myself included) who wait around for things or people or events to happen . .  just wanting something or feeling bad about something. My advice was to stop waiting for someone else and for us to make things happen for ourselves. I’ve wanted a certain purse for quite some time so I saved some money and I bought it for myself. I want to go to Italy next year so I’m going to start saving money. I love Coco to death but I can’t get any work done with her around unless she’s napping. So, I’ve started taking her to doggie day camp 2-3 times a week so I can have some peace and get some work done. I don’t feel guilty about it one bit. She loves it. 

I also workout at least 5-6 times a week. It keeps me sane and I love it. I started getting my nails done again. I get hydrafacials. I watch TV at night to decompress and fall asleep. I’m really excited that the holidays are almost here. My entire family is coming to our house for Thanksgiving and I’m really excited! I’ll be sharing some holiday recipes, some tips and how I get ready to entertain in the holiday season. This wasn’t really a life update but I just want to encourage all of us to take time for ourselves and not feel guilty about it. When we do this, I truly believe we can be better wives, mothers, significant others, etc. When we take the time to care for ourselves, I think it really helps. 

Loaded Wedge Salad

Paul and I recently dined out in Philadelphia at Little Nonna’s. This was our first date night in a long long time. The food was incredible and yes, of course, we had their SOUTH PHILLY WEDGE $12: cherry tomato, sharp provolone, red onion, pepperoncini, creamy herb Italian dressing, kalamata olives, salami, olive oil bread crumbs. It was divine.  I wanted to show a classic buttermilk dressing so that’s what’s in the recipe below but I love the idea of something lighter, so you can definitely make my go-to Dijon vinaigrette. 

I hope you try the salad and enjoy. May we all find time this week or next to relax and do something nice for ourselves for our mental health. Whether it’s working out, taking a walk or buying a big fat cookie for ourselves. Love you guys! 

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Loaded Wedge Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

For a lighter dressing, try this one. If pickling your red onions, you'll want to do this first and for best results, let them sit out room temperature for about an hour. Pickling the red onions may seem redundant or unnecessary since we add pepperoncinis but I really love the tang and flavor that they add here, along with the pepperoncini. You can absolutely just slice up and add raw red onions.

OTHER TOPPING OPTIONS:

cherry tomato, sharp provolone, raw red onion, kalamata olives, olive oil bread crumbs, avocado, chives, crispy bacon

Prep Time1 hr 10 mins

Total Time1 hr 10 mins

Course: Appetizer or Main

Keyword: loaded wedge salad, wedge salad

Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the Quick Pickled Onions:

• 1/2 cup white wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 red onion thinly sliced

For the Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing:

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

For the Wedge Salad:

• 1 head iceberg lettuce
• Roma or cherry tomatoes diced or chopped small
• salami diced
• pepperoncinis
• pickled red onions
• crumbled blue cheese
• fresh parsley diced fine

Instructions

For the Quick Pickled Onions:

• Whisk together vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a small bowl until the sugar and salt dissolve. Carefully place your red onion in a jar or bowl; pour vinegar mixture over. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. 

For the Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, and lemon juice until smooth. Add in the blue cheese and season with salt and pepper. Mix together one more time. Taste and adjust any ingredients as needed.

For the Wedge Salad:

• Remove the outer leaves from your head of lettuce, and slice into 4 pieces. You can slice through the core or you can remove it. Place your iceberg lettuce wedges onto individual plates or on one large platter.
• Add toppings: start with the tomatoes, salami, pepperoncinis, scatter some pickled red onions, crumbled blue cheese, and pour on the blue cheese dressing and garnish with the parsley. Enjoy immediately.

Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing adapted from here.