Author Notes
A base of romaine lettuce is coated in a creamy garlic dressing, then tossed with brussel sprouts, bacon, blue cheese, and croutons. The salad is heavy enough to be served as a main course or perhaps paired with a cup of soup. —Vicky | Things I Made Today
Ingredients
- For the dressing
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3
heads of garlic
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olive oil
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Kosher salt
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freshly ground black pepper
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1/2 cup
mayonnaise
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3 tablespoons
Parmesan cheese
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2 1/2 tablespoons
heavy cream
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2 tablespoons
lemon juice
- For the salad:
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stale bread, cut into squares, resulting in about 1 1/2 cups of croutons
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olive oil
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Kosher salt
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freshly ground black pepper
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3
slices thick cut bacon, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
-
3/4 pound
brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved
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9 ounces
romaine lettuce
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1/2 cup
blue cheese
Directions
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Preheat oven to 325. Slice off a ½ inch of the top of the garlic head and peel off a little of the skin, making sure that the cloves stay together. Place on baking sheet, cut side up, and sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Flip garlic so it’s cut side down and bake for an hour. Let cool completely.
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Squeeze out garlic cloves and mash into a paste using a fork or mortar and pestle.
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In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, garlic mash, Parmesan, cream, and lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning. If dressing is too thick, thin out with a little additional lemon juice. Set aside. Note that this makes about 3 times the amount of dressing you need for the salad, but it's great for dipping vegetables or using for a different salad.
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Increase oven temperature to 400. Lay bread pieces single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake for 10-15 minutes until bread has browned. Let cool completely.
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Cook bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Transfer bacon bits to a paper-towel lined plate.
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Add brussel sprouts, cut side down, to skillet with bacon fat. Cook until they are bright green and slightly crispy. Remove from heat.
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Toss lettuce leaves with about ⅓ of dressing. Top with brussel sprouts, bacon bits, blue cheese, and croutons.
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