It's hard to know when the right time is to do something seemingly frivolous like write a blog post about food when there's so many more weighty topics to be talking about. We debated whether it made sense for us to give social media some time to cool off before sharing this, but we also believe in the power of sharing food with family, friends, whoever makes up your community, small or large, as a way to gather together and heal. There's a reason that "comfort food" and "emotional eating" are things. Food has this way of uniting us under a common culture. It relaxes us, and it gives us purpose. Our house has always been the hub of eating for our friends and family, and we take so much happiness and pride in being able to lay out a tasty spread. So, what we're saying is, that for us, food equals love, and right now the world needs as much love as it can get.
Weekends are a great time for gathering with your nearest and dearest and sharing some food. We recently did just that and made this crazy good salad. Iceberg lettuce is often maligned in the culinary world, but it works so well in this preparation. Even if you don’t make it all snazzy wedge style, do yourself a favor and at least make the dressing and pour it over some tomatoes and cucumbers. You won’t regret it!
The fact that the creamy feta dressing takes less than 5 minutes to put together makes it easy enough to pull off on a weeknight, but even more appealing is the likelihood that it will actually make you look forward to eating salad. If you leave it on the thicker side, it would also make a great dip for veggies, pita chips, etc. Feel free to swap out the basil for whatever herbs you enjoy!
Classic Wedge Salad with Creamy Feta Dressing
Recipe
Feta Dressing:
Yields 1 and 1/2 cups
5 ounces feta cheese
1⁄4cup buttermilk
1⁄2cup plain greek yogurt (2% or full fat)
1⁄2cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 green onion, finely chopped
Several basil leaves, torn into small pieces
salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine feta cheese and buttermilk by smooshing together with a fork or a potato masher. You are done when the mixture looks like cottage cheese. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Add more buttermilk to reach desired consistency.
- It’s important to make this a few hours in advance so that all of the flavors have time to blend. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Salad:
Iceberg lettuce, one head yields four wedges
Red or yellow bell peppers, chopped
Kalamata olives
Cocktail tomatoes, quartered or cherry/grape tomatoes, halved
Cucumbers, chopped
Scallions, chopped
Basil
Instructions
- Wash the entire head under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Locate and remove the core of the lettuce with a knife.
- Remove any of the wilted outer leaves of lettuce until you have a clean round head.
- Cut the lettuce first in half lengthwise, and then quarter the two halves. Watch this very informative video if you are a visual learner like Tim.
- Add the other ingredients sprinkled across the tops of the wedges. This is as clean as a salad palette can be, so get creative. We've offered some suggestions above.
- Drizzle with the feta dressing and enjoy!
