Another one of those: “Bring a little USA to the Netherlands,” recipes is a wedge salad.

If you’re Dutch, chances are you’ll be frowning now, wondering just what the heck a wedge salad is. You see, here in Holland we never, ever eat our lettuce in wedge form. It’s just not something you’ll see happening here. Not in our homes, not in our restaurants, nowhere really.

Bringing plates filled with topped lettuce wedges to the table will get you blank stares. Don’t be surprised if one of your friends will ask you, probably in a not-so-subtle way, if you were strapped for time or just too darn lazy to make them a real salad.

I love them, those wedges. There’s something decidedly fun about cutting a big wedge of iceberg lettuce, drenching it in dressing, topping it, and calling it a salad. And why not? Who decides what makes a salad a salad anyway? Food snobs? I’d say you do.

These are easy to make, fun to serve -especially during a BBQ or buffet-style dinner-  and they look so cheerful. I choose one of my own favorite dressings for this, which is an equally American, mild tangy and lightly sweet Tomato French Dressing, with a slight twist.

Ingredients:

iceberg lettuce
hard-boiled eggs
bacon
avocado
anything you like

Tomato French Dressing:

4 tbsp oil (mellow flavor like peanut oil)
3 tbsp ketchup
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp worcestershiresauce
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 lemon
1/2 small shallot
1/2 to 1 garlic clove

Directions:

Grate the shallot and garlic into your food processor bowl. Add the white wine vinegar and oil. Choose a mellow oil, like salad oil or peanut oi. Olive might be too overpowering.

The mustard powder will add a kick without overdoing it.

You can leave out the worcestershiresauce if you like, but I like the slight smokey flavor it adds. Goes really well with grilled meats.

Add the ketchup, sugar and worcestershiresauce. Add some tabasco if you want spiciness as well.

Squeeze the lemon juice in there as well. It’ll add freshness as well and tanginess.

Pulse until you have a smooth dressing.

Cut the iceberg lettuce into thick wedges.

Top them with anything you like. I’m partial to finely minced hard-boiled egg, crunchy bacon and creamy avocado pieces.

Eat them for lunch, as a side dish or appetizer. They are easy and fun.