Iceberg ahead! Wedge salad an easy dinner

Alicia writes: "It never fails. We go to a fancy restaurant, and I fill up on the salad. Case in point: Recently, we ordered a classic iceberg-wedge salad as a starter and decided to split it, thinking we would 'save room' for the entree. So the salad arrives, consisting of half a head of lettuce smothered in bacon, blue-cheese dressing, tomatoes and hard-cooked egg.

"A starter? At my house, that's dinner. I could barely nibble on the steak and sides that followed."

Light-bulb moment: I never indulge in the classic iceberg-wedge salad except when we go out for a "nice" steak dinner (about once a year). But how easy is that salad? And if I served it with bacon, tomatoes and hard-cooked egg, it really IS dinner.

So grab your knife and fork, and get ready for my version of this American-steakhouse classic. I call it the Desperate Wedge Salad All the Way. Dinner is served!

Menu:

Desperate Wedge Salad All the Way

Crusty bread and butter

Desperate Wedge Salad All the Way

Start to finish: under 15 minutes

8 thick slices already-cooked bacon

1 head iceberg lettuce

1/2 cup chopped tomato

2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped (see cook's note)

Blue-cheese crumbles, optional garnish

Creamy blue-cheese dressing, recipe follows

Cook's note: For an easy, surefire way to hard-cook eggs, check out our Perfect Hard-Cooked Egg recipe at www.KitchenScoop.com.

Crisp the bacon in the microwave according to package directions. Coarsely chop, and set aside.

Quarter (and core) lettuce, and place each wedge on a plate. Top each with dressing, tomatoes and chopped egg. Garnish with cheese crumbles, if desired. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings

Approximate values per serving: 381 calories (69 percent from fat), 27 g fat (11 g saturated), 154 mg cholesterol, 17 g protein, 10 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, 970 mg sodium

Creamy Blue-Cheese Dressing

Start to finish: under 5 minutes

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream