You don’t want excess water in your salad. Remove the lettuce from the water and let drain on a clean kitchen towel or paper towels. You can also place the quarters in a bowl of cold water, gently swishing them to loosen any bad stuff trapped inside. Run cold water over each quarter, using your fingers to gently separate the leaves to let the water inside. How do you get rid of that without ruining your perfect wedges?įirst, cut the head of lettuce into quarters. As bright and clean as it may look from the outside, those layered leaves can be filled with sand, dirt and bugs. Iceberg lettuce is perfect for wedge salads because of its thick, crisp leaves naturally stacked and held together by a core. While it’ll never qualify as a superfood, iceberg does contain moderate amounts of vitamins A & K. One of the biggest myths about iceberg is that it’s a nutritional no-show. Its name, in fact, comes from the piles of ice it was covered in when it was packed for travel. Iceberg lettuce became the lettuce standard in the 40’s when it was developed specifically to endure cross country travel. But iceberg’s back (not that it was ever really gone) and you need to get some. A thick wedge of iceberg lettuce topped with diced tomato, crumbled bacon and a creamy blue cheese dressing is the stuff steakhouse menus were once made of until fancier greens, like arugula and kale, stole the show. Yep, iceberg lettuce, the long-maligned and under-appreciated salad green is in vogue once more and with it, the Classic Wedge Salad. Don’t call it a comeback! Iceberg’s been here for years.