Wedge Salad With Blue Cheese Dressing

May is almost here and Bay View is doing that thing it does when the weather finally breaks — everyone is outside at once, like the whole neighborhood got the same memo. The coffee shop on Kinnickinnic had a line out the door Saturday morning. People were sitting on their stoops with cups of coffee squinting at the sunshine like they weren't sure if they could trust it. I understand the feeling. After a Milwaukee winter you've been burned before.

I smoked ribs on the balcony for the first time this spring. Baby back ribs, dry rub overnight, a slow four-hour smoke on apple and cherry wood, sauce at the end. This is one of those things I've gotten genuinely good at over the years and I don't say that about a lot of my cooking. The ribs came out right — that pink smoke ring, the pull-clean-off-the-bone without falling apart, the kind of thing that makes you stand over the cutting board and eat one straight off the slab before you even get it to a plate. Megan had three and said "okay yes" which is high praise from someone whose food vocabulary is normally limited to thumbs up or thumbs down.

I've been adding to the freezer stash. A big pot of chicken tortilla soup this week, portioned out into quart containers. A double batch of pierogi, the potato-cheese ones, frozen on a sheet pan before bagging so they don't stick together. The freezer is starting to look like a plan, which is the whole point. In October when we're running on no sleep, the freezer is the friend we need. Past Jake is building something for future Jake. Future Jake is going to be very grateful.

The small Milwaukee-winter is the small six-month-condition. The small cold-weather-comfort-food rotation runs October through April. The small soups, the small stews, the small braises, the small heavy-baked-goods. The small Midwestern-comfort-vocabulary is the small kitchen-language.

Megan and Jake married in June 2024. The small newlywed-rhythm is in its small second year. The small two-bedroom rental on the small east-side of Milwaukee continues to be the small first-home. The small thirty-year-mortgage-eventually-someday is the small five-year-goal. The small marriage is the small foundation the small life is being built on.

The small Polish-American heritage is the small kitchen-identity. The small pierogi-recipe-cards from Babcia Helen (Jake’s grandmother who passed in 2018, who had lived two blocks from the small Bay-View family-house) is the small monthly-Saturday-tradition. The small kielbasa-and-sauerkraut. The small bigos. The small recipes that came over from the small Krakow-region in the small 1910s.

The small Lakefront Brewery shift-work continues to be the small steady-paycheck. The small forty-hour-week brewery-floor job pays the small twenty-two-an-hour rate that the small Milwaukee-blue-collar-economy supports. The small benefits are the small union-decent. The small ten-year-tenure-target is the small career-anchor.

Megan is from a small Irish-Catholic Milwaukee-suburban family. The small Sunday-dinners at her small parents’ house rotate with the small Sunday-dinners at Jake’s parents’ house. The small in-laws on both sides have been the small welcoming-presence. The small two-family-network is the small extended-support the small newlywed-life rests on.

The small future-kid-conversations have begun. Megan teaches small fourth-grade at a small public school in Wauwatosa. The small adoption-vs-biological conversation is in the small early-discussion stage. The small five-year-plan includes the small kid-or-kids in some form. The small kitchen is the small place where the small future is being practiced.

The ribs were already the star of the plate, but a slab that good deserves something alongside it that can hold its own — not coleslaw from a bag, not chips. When I do ribs right, I want the whole meal to feel intentional. A wedge salad is the move: cold, crisp, a little rich from the blue cheese, and it takes about fifteen minutes while the meat is resting. Megan, who gives everything a thumbs up or thumbs down, gave this one a thumbs up without being asked.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 large head iceberg lettuce, outer leaves removed
6 strips thick-cut bacon
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
Blue Cheese Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup blue cheese crumbles, divided
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Salt to taste

Instructions

Cook the bacon. Lay bacon strips in a cold skillet and bring to medium heat. Cook 4–5 minutes per side until crisp. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain, then crumble into rough pieces once cool.
Make the dressing. In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, and buttermilk until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup of the blue cheese crumbles, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper. Mash the blue cheese slightly as you mix — you want creamy with some texture remaining. Season with salt to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cut the lettuce. Slice the head of iceberg into 4 equal wedges through the core so each wedge holds together. Rinse gently under cold water and pat dry. Arrange each wedge cut-side up on individual plates.
Dress and top. Spoon blue cheese dressing generously over each wedge. Top each with cherry tomatoes, crumbled bacon, the remaining blue cheese crumbles, red onion slices, and fresh chives.
Serve immediately. The contrast between the cold crisp lettuce and the creamy dressing is the whole point — bring these to the table right away.

Nutrition (per serving)

Wedge Salad With Blue Cheese Dressing — The Side That Belongs Next to Those Ribs