I’ve decided that while I do love all that Wegmans has brought to Frederick, it’s hard to do regular, everyday shopping there, especially at the times that are convenient for me – and definitely with a kid in tow.
Oglers and wanderers still roam aimlessly, and I have yet to get through checkout without some sort of scanning issue. At this point I chalk it up to the store being less than two months old, but until all that gets ironed out, Wegmans will be my “specialty” store.
During a recent vacation at Dewey Beach, DE, we had dinner at Claws Seafood House along the boardwalk. Soft shell crabs, stuffed flounder, surf & turf – it was all good, not excellent. Worth the visit nevertheless.
But, before any of the entrees were served, at the very last minute when the server was just finishing up taking our order, hubs decided to order a house salad. Seems fairly benign, right?
Best. House. Salad. EVER. Definitely the star of the evening meal, by far. (Sad to say for a seafood house, huh?)
And, there wasn’t anything particularly special about it – field greens, almonds, dried cranberries, blue cheese, a light Dijon balsamic dressing; however, at that moment it was the most perfect thing we could have been eating (and all four of us did end up sharing it).
I had to recreate this salad at home. AND, I finally had a reason to visit my local grocery store specialty store to pick out, as Ina Garten would say, “Good blue cheese.”
Gorgonzola, Almond, Cranberry Salad
Ingredients
1 bag mixed field greens (or fresh if you can find some at the farmers’ market!)
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup crumbled “good” mild blue cheese, like Gorgonzola*
For the dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Directions
Gently toss the field greens, almonds, cranberries and blue cheese in a large bowl. In a small container with a tight-fitting lid, combine the balsamic vinaigrette and the Dijon mustard. Shake the container vigorously for 30 seconds to make sure the mustard fully incorporates with the vinaigrette.
Add 2 tablespoons of the dressing to the salad, toss and then continue to add dressing, a tablespoon at a time, until it’s dressed the way you like.
Be careful not to overuse the dressing; you don’t want the salad to be soupy – and you can save any extra in the fridge to use another time!
Makes 4 side salads.
*The best type of blue cheese in this recipe is creamy, mild blue cheese – and while I said to “crumble” the blue cheese, it was really too creamy to crumble. I instead had to pull pieces off the Gorgonzola wedge for the salad. Each gooey piece was about the side of a dime.
Hi Liza,
This recipe looks yummy, we are so thrilled that you stopped by our Frederick, Maryland store for your ingredients! We appreciate your patience as we work through the store opening, and we thank you so much for your feedback! Thanks for the mention, we are thrilled that you are excited about Wegmans coming to your town, and hope to see you again soon!
Wegmans Fresh Stories Blog
I really do love Wegmans and am SO glad you’re in Frederick now. Every store has its aches and pains when opening – and I must say, the customer service has been superb with each visit. No worries!
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Wish I had known you were visiting “us” at the beach…so many AMAZING restaurants you could have tried.
I agree – it was a last minute decision, and I’m certain there are a ton of better restaurants to pick from! We’ll be there again next year!