Some people don’t like iceberg lettuce because there is no significant nutritional benefit to it. This may be true, especially when you compare it to darker leafy greens like kale, spinach or chard, BUT in the case of this salad it’s really just a vehicle for this delicious dressing anyway…and, you try to cut a head of Romaine lettuce into wedges!
Hmm, I suppose you could just scoop the dressing with a big Romaine leaf if you prefer. It’s better than using a chip (which my husband has been known to do because he loves this dressing that much).
This recipe makes about a quart of pico vinaigrette. When we make it we eat it all week on salads (whether its a wedge or not), on eggs, things like that.
It really isn’t spicy if you devein the jalapeños (like I do on the video below) so don’t let that scare you! If it does scare you just leave the jalapeño out. I will tell you Thommie (of Veritas Education and the one who takes our beautiful food photos) tried this salad and said it was very good and had only the slightest hint of a kick to it. He’s a self proclaimed spice wuss so if he can hang, you probably can, too.
I call for feta cheese but we have enjoyed blue cheese and even cheddar on top of this salad.
If you need to go egg-free or raw yolks just eek you out you can leave that out, too. I like the extra nutrition and the yolk will help the liquid base of the vinaigrette to emulsify more.
I keep this dressing in a small pitcher or quart size jar in the fridge. It will set up because the olive oil wants to solidify but you can set it out on the countertop about 30 minutes before serving to come closer to room temp or just do what we do – stir it up and pile it on top of whatever you’re eating. It tastes delicious either way!
This salad is great with dinner or at lunch. It’s fancy enough to serve with a fork and knife if you’re hosting a nice dinner. You could even put out a tray-full of wedges with some tongs for a large group to serve themselves buffet-style. Be creative and enjoy this refreshing, zesty salad!
Recipe:
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Pico Ingredients
- 2 Roma tomatoes , diced (about 2/3 C)
- Half of 1 purple onion , diced
- 3 jalapenos , de-veined and diced
- 1/3 C roughly chopped fresh cilantro
- juice of 5 to 6 limes
- 1 tsp salt
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
vinaigrette ingredients
- 1 egg yolk preferably from a healthy, pasture-raised hen *optional
- 1/4 apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbs tomato paste OR 1/4 C tomato juice
- 2 Tbs honey *optional
- 1 tsp salt
- more freshly cracked black pepper if you like
- 1 1/2 C olive oil
Salad Ingredients
- 1 head iceberg lettuce (will make about 4 wedges)
- feta cheese and freshly cracked black pepper to garnish
