Pesto Wedge Salad! Using fresh homemade arugula pesto, or any pesto really! Fresh and delicious, I hope you try it! and as far as I can tell, I haven’t seen anyone else do this?
In the world of food blogging, food content creation and recipe development, I think there are unwritten rules and guidelines that you need to follow. When you see a recipe or video and then re-make it, I think you need to credit and acknowledge the original creator. Does everyone do this? Sadly, no.
Not only do people steal recipe ideas and use them as their own, people and accounts use and steal photos, videos and everything under the sun. It’s crazy.
Whenever I get inspiration from another creator or website, I always tag and credit them. It will always be noted under my recipe cards, if there’s a story behind it, I also mention it within my written blog post. The thing is: in our social media world today, it’s all about the numbers and going viral.
I mean, I get it. Who doesn’t want to go viral and gain a million followers (I’m exaggerating). It’s hard to resist when you see the massive success from people who have gone TikTok famous and viral and all the success they have had and how much money they make.
I grew up with the thinking that, you just work hard and what was meant to come to you, will come to you. And now that the food content creator space is so flooded, I just try to find enjoyment in what I’m doing.
Pesto Wedge Salad
Any time I publish a new recipe, I google it, to see if anyone else has done it, it’s there’s a variation of it out in the world, etc. And of course, if I ever gain inspiration, follow a recipe or use another recipe for inspiration, I credit them.
For this Pesto Wedge Salad, I haven’t seen this before but I’m sure this, or a form of it, has been done before. So, I’m not saying I created this. This just came to me because I had some leftover pesto and some iceberg lettuce.
“Despite its reputation for being a complete zero on the nutritional scale, iceberg lettuce provides significant amounts of vitamins A and K. It also has small amounts of many other healthy nutrients. Although it’s low in fiber, it has a high water content, making it a refreshing choice during hot weather.”
A Classic Wedge Salad
What is a wedge salad? See my photo above. This simple salad is a wedge (one-quarter head) of iceberg lettuce. It’s usually topped with blue cheese dressing, crispy bacon, and blue cheese crumbles. You can add other toppings to your liking including red onion, tomato, and avocado. I like to add
So, try the Pesto Wedge or my version of a Classic Wedge Salad. Either way, try one and enjoy!
Pesto Wedge Salad
Equipment
- food processor or mortar and pestle
Ingredients
For the Arugula Pesto:
- 2 to 3 cups fresh arugula
- 1 to 2 cups fresh baby spinach or basil
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup almonds and pecans or walnuts
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese in chunks or grated
- 1/3 to a 1/2 cup olive oil extra virgin
- kosher salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes if desired
For the Wedge Salad:
- 1 head iceberg lettuce sliced into 4 wedges
- tomatoes any kind
- Parmesan cheese freshly grated
Instructions
For the Arugula Pesto:
- Using a food processor, place the arugula, spinach, garlic, almonds and pecans or walnuts, and the parmesan cheese (you can also add the parmesan cheese at the end if you prefer) into the food processor and blend until smooth. If you want some texture, blend and then pulse until desired texture is reached.
- While the food processor is running on low, pour in the olive oil through the top feeder. If wanting a thinner pesto that you can pour over the lettuce like a dressing, add a touch more olive oil. Turn the food processor off and remove from base. Add the salt and red pepper flakes (if using), mix together. Taste and adjust anything as needed.
For the Wedge Salad:
- To plate: Add one wedge of iceberg lettuce onto a plate. Top with the pesto and add the tomatoes and garnish with lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
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