Once looked down upon as so 1950s, the iceberg wedge with tangy blue cheese dressing has made a comeback, and with good reason. I’m always amazed at the enthusiastic response when I set out these salads—either on a party buffet table, or for a sit-down dinner. Guys especially love it.

　　

Ingredients

serves 8

　　

Blue Cheese Dressing

2 cups mayonnaise

　　1 1/2 cups sour cream

　　1 tablespoon grated white onion

　　1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 1 medium clove)

　　1/2 teaspoon celery salt

　　1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 medium lemon)

　　1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

　　1/4 cup dry white wine

　　1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, white and green parts

　　2 cups good-quality blue cheese, crumbled (about 8 ounces)

　　1/4 cup finely chopped Mexican or French tarragon leaves (optional)

　　

Salad

2 heads iceberg lettuce, cored and quartered

　　1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

　　8 slices crisp cooked bacon, crumbled

　　

Step 1

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients until combined. When ready to serve, set each lettuce wedge on a plate, spoon on about 1/2 cup dressing, and top with a handful of cherry tomato halves and a sprinkling of crumbled bacon.

　　

do it early

Step 2

The dressing and the bacon crumbles can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated. Assemble the salad shortly before serving.

　　

tip

Step 3

Mexican tarragon (also called mint marigold) is easily grown throughout Texas and is similar in taste to French tarragon, which literally can’t take the Texas heat. If you don’t find Mexican tarragon in the grocery store, look for the flowering plants at your local nursery. Little pots of these herbs also make charming party favors.

　　

Step 4

If you are so inclined, cut the calorie and fat load by using low-fat or nonfat mayonnaise and low-fat or nonfat sour cream instead of the full-fat stuff.

　　Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved.A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café.  Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances.Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.