Iceberg Wedge Salad

Summer perfection on a plate. This Iceberg Wedge Salad is perfect on a hot summer day. Hydration in a salad that tastes delicious.

Hydration in the summer in Miami is a must! Walk outside and you’re already sweating. Our body’s are made up of about 60% water. And while most people quote the ‘8 glasses of water 8 times a day’ we actually need more! Women need 11.5 cups of water and men need 15.5 cups. This includes fluid that we consume from food. We typically get about 20% of the water you need from food you eat throughout the day. By taking that into account, women end up needing ~9 cups of fluid/day and men ~13 cups/day, all in order to help replace what’s lost throughout the day.

Fluid needs will vary for everyone depending on your age, activity level, and overall health. However, the best way to gauge and know? Check the color of your urine! Yes, you heard me right. Our body’s are these amazing organisms that really do give us signs and symptoms. The most important part is paying attention to those signs. If you are consuming enough fluid, the urine color will be a pale yellow color. And if it’s dark yellow or amber in color (I often say if it’s like apple juice), you’re going to need to increase the amount of fluid you’re consuming!

Enter this Classic Iceberg Wedge Salad. It has ALL the components of hydration in every ingredient. Even if you’ve heard people say there’s no health benefit to Iceberg Lettuce, I’m here to tell you all food can be functional. Iceberg lettuce is full of water and perfect on a hot summer day!

Ingredients: Iceberg Wedge Salad

1. Iceberg Lettuce: The star of the show. At 96% water, Iceberg lettuce has a crisp texture and cooling effect. Exactly what we’re looking for in this salad.
2. Tomatoes: Add flavor, freshness, and yes, more water! However, tomatoes can be too watery and that can lead to blandness. Adding a little salt will help draw the water out, in order to concentrate the flavor & season it at the same time. Don’t worry, you’ll still get plenty of hydration in this salad!
3. Cucumber: Normal wedge salads will add bacon for crunch to the salad. As a dietitian, I’m not saying you can’t ever have bacon, but as it’s a processed meat, I’d also be honest in saying, this isn’t the time I’d be having bacon. Frequency in foods matters. Leave this salad, simple and hydrating and add crunch with the cucumber!
4. Pickled Red Onion: I am not a fan of raw onion. Too strong and aggressive, and often times will overpower the other flavors. You can use my pickling recipe here, or you can do a quick method where you soak them in vinegar (white or red wine).
5. Blue Cheese: Are you a fan? Classic Wedge Salads do use blue cheese. If you prefer a more mild cheese, you could use feta. However, I’m here to tell you, a few crumbles mixed in with a ranch dressing is quite mild, but yet perfection.
6. Ranch Dressing: Using my standard recipe I have and adding in the blue cheese crumbles. You can definitely use a blue cheese dressing if you prefer, but I find that many people find blue cheese divisive.

How To Make An Iceberg Wedge Salad

There is some technique to making this Wedge Salad. All your toppings should be small in size, like confetti. The reason? You want all the toppings to stick to the wedge (as best as possible) to allow you to have little bits of garnish with every bite of lettuce. All ingredients in each and every bite. Refreshing, hydrating, and most importantly, delicious!

1. Salt your tomatoes: Dice your tomatoes into small pieces, remember think confetti! Place a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl and add your tomatoes. Sprinkle with the salt and toss to combine. Let tomatoes stand, ~10 minutes.
2. Quick pickle your onion: Dice your onions into super small pieces. Place your onion in a bowl and pour enough vinegar on top to cover. Let onion sit as you prepare the rest of your ingredients. Or you can prep some for the rest of the week and use my ‘quick pickle‘ technique here.
3. Dice: your cucumber into tiny bite-sized pieces.
4. Cut: your Iceberg lettuce into wedges. Remove the outer leaves and then quarter through core in order for each piece to hold together.
5. Prepare the dressing: This dressing is always on repeat at my house and in the refrigerator. Feel free to buy one, ranch or blue cheese, however, aim to get a lower-sodium, no-added sugar when/if possible!
6. Plate the salad: Arrange the wedges on plates and spoon the dressing over each, ~1 tablespoon. Sprinkle the tomatoes, cucumber, pickled red onion, and blue cheese crumbles (1 tablespoon/wedge)

Other Summer Salads:

• Fig, Arugula, Burrata Salad
• Heirloom Tomato Salad
• Watermelon, Mint, Feta Salad
• Zoodle Salad

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