Cobb Salad

Cobb salads…they look impressive and are so easy to make!

My inspiration was a recipe from my American Williams-Sonoma cookbook. Traditionally, a Cobb salad includes lettuce, tomato, bacon, chicken, hard boiled egg, avocado, cheese, chives and a mustard vinaigrette.

I started by boiling 2 eggs, frying two chicken breasts and cooking 6 slices of bacon.

Cooking tip: I have found a technique, from Betty Crocker, that works great for getting perfect hard boiled eggs. First place your eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with cold water to at least 1 inch above the eggs. Bring to a rolling boil – large bubbles breaking the surface. Cover, remove from heat, and allow to stand for 18 minutes. Immediately drain the hot water and run cool water over the eggs until they are cool enough to handle. You can then place the eggs in the refrigerator or peel and use! For easier peeling of a hard boiled egg start at the large end and run under cold water as you peel.  Always remember to cool your eggs as soon as they are done cooking to avoid that nasty gray/green color on the outside of the yolks.

Next, the vinaigrette….this recipe called for red wine vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. But you could really use whatever kind of dressing you like.

On to the chopping….per serving of salad I chopped: 1 chicken breast, 1 egg, 3 slices of bacon, 1 tomato and half an avocado. You will notice that my salads did not have avocado. That’s because when I cut my avocado open it was a little too ripe (brown avocado is not appetizing!)

For assembly….A traditional Cobb salad is “composed” meaning the ingredients are placed in quadrants or rows on the plate instead of being tossed. I used romaine lettuce as the base of my salad, but again you could use whatever salad green you prefer. I added the sliced chicken breast, tomato, egg, bacon. Then I sprinkled crumbled blue cheese and chives over the salad. I served the dressing on the side.

Cooking tip: Scissors work great for chopping fresh herbs!

Why not try a traditional Cobb salad for dinner tonight?  Or get creative and add your own twist to it! Don't forget to come back and let us know how your version turned out.