Crispy Salami Blue Cheese Wedge Salad with Cherries and Spiced Pecans

Crispy Salami Blue Cheese Wedge Salad with Cherries and Spiced Pecans is inspired by a wedge salad I had many moons ago. I must be honest; I cannot remember where I had this salad, or all the ingredients featured. I have a fuzzy memory of a wedge salad with candied pecans, dried cherries, and dressing. That's it. 

Did it have bacon? Cheese? Tomatoes? Onions? Croutons? Which dressing was used? I do NOT recall. I do remember loving it and trying to duplicate it at home.

With that said, after developing a dairy-free blue cheese dressing, this mystical salad came to mind. I decided to leverage what I did remember from that salad and feature my dairy-free blue cheese dressing to create a new wedge salad. What came next was a lightly sweet and savory salad that checks all the boxes. Enter the Crispy Salami Blue Cheese Wedge Salad with Cherries and Spiced Pecans.

Iceberg lettuce, crispy genoa salami, dried cherries, candied pecans spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, homemade dairy-free blue cheese dressing, topped with dairy-free blue cheese crumbles come together to make a crisp, delicious, satisfying, gorgeous salad that will have your tastebuds wanting more.

METHOD

Step 1

First, start with the spiced candied pecans. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the egg white, sugar, spices, water, and salt. Now, mix the pecans into the sugar, spice, and egg white mixture. Using a fork, place the pecans onto a lined cookie sheet. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until the egg white has puffed up making a candied coating. Set aside and allow to cool.

Once cooled, remove the pecans from the cookie sheet, place them onto a cutting board, chop the pecans. Rough chop.

Note: If you want to simplify the prep for this salad, I welcome using store-bought candied pecans. Remember to check if they are dairy and gluten-free.

Step 2

Next, make the dairy-free blue cheese dressing. Gather all your ingredients, measure, and mix in a medium-sized mixing bowl. After mixing, I like to transfer the dressing into a mason jar and place it in the refrigerator until it is time to assemble the salad.

Step 3

On to the crispy salami, take the slices of genoa salami and stack them on top of each other. Then, cut the salami into thin strips. After cutting the salami into strips, pan-fry the strips on medium-low until they are crispy. Notice the white parts of the salami have cooked Once the strips have rendered the fat and crisped up, remove the strips from the heat and place them on a plate topped with a paper towel, allowing the salami to drain and cool.

Step 4

Time to prep the lettuce, and remove the outside leaves that are wilted or damaged. Now, rinse the head of the lettuce clean, removing visible dirt. Allow all the excess water to drain.

Cut the lettuce in half and cut each half into half again. This will create four quarters. Next, cut off the stem from each quarter. I like to do this on the diagonal.

Step 5

Lastly, let's put this baby together! Place the wedge/s onto your serving dish. Top with 3 tablespoons of your dairy-free blue cheese dressing (per wedge), salami slices, 1 tablespoon of dairy-free blue cheese crumbles per wedge, 1 tablespoon of dried cherries, and finally, 2 tablespoons of chopped pecans. Time to eat!

¡Buen Provecho!

If you like pecans, check out my recipe for Caramel Pecan Pie Bars.