Steakhouse Wedge Salad
To make Steakhouse Wedge Salad, sear steak to your preferred doneness, rest and slice it, then top a cold iceberg wedge with blue cheese dressing, bacon, tomatoes, and the sliced steak.
The wedge salad is one of the few salads that has never pretended to be delicate. It is a cold quarter of iceberg lettuce carrying blue cheese dressing, bacon, blue cheese, tomatoes, red onion, and, in this case, sliced steak. At some point we stopped calling that a salad and started calling it a steakhouse tradition, which was probably easier for everyone.
The iceberg matters because softer greens would fold under the weight of the toppings. A chilled wedge stays crisp while warm sirloin or ribeye, seared for about 3–4 minutes per side and rested before slicing, goes over or alongside it. Bacon brings crunch, tomatoes bring acidity and sweetness, and the onion gives you the sharp bite needed to keep blue cheese dressing from taking over the entire plate. For medium-rare steak, the recipe uses 135°F as the target. Slice against the grain after a five-minute rest, then assemble right before serving so the lettuce stays cold and crisp. This is technically a salad. It is also wearing bacon and steak. Both statements can be true.
