Cobb Salad
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes | Serves: 10
Salads are beautiful and delicious. If you’re not turned on to them, maybe you just need the right ingredients. This Cobb Salad is both – delicious and beautiful. People say that you eat with your eyes first. Definitely so on this dish.
As I said in my Bio, I enjoy researching the history and culture of food. Cobb salads are super-popular, at least here in America. The (short) story goes, in 1937 Robert Cobb, restaurant owner of Hollywood Brown Derby, threw some kitchen ingredients together (of course, bacon was included) near midnight because he had not yet eaten. He tossed the ingredients in a Brown Derby dressing, (a vinaigrette) and now, we have the Cobb salad. This salad became the signature dish at his restaurant and a favorite to many of us.
Cobb salads are filled with flavor and quite filling if a protein, like chicken, is added. It’s a dish that can be made with leftovers in mind and you can eat on it for a few days. I love to make more than enough, just so that we can have leftovers.You can serve this with your favorite dressing, but I love it with my Green Goddess Dressing. The recipe is listed below.
See Notes below the recipe for tips on the ingredients. It also is very useful to use an over-sized cutting board and a very sharp knife – lots of cutting and chopping here.
Cobb Salad
Salads are beautiful and delicious. If you’re not turned on to them, maybe you just need the right ingredients. This Cobb Salad is both – delicious and beautiful. People say that you eat with your eyes first. Definitely so on this dish.
Ingredients
- 3 heads Romaine lettuce
- 1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced or quartered
- 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced
- 2 avocados, sliced
- 1/2 of a red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4-6 ounces Blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola
- 6 ounces Kalamata olives pitted
- 3 chicken breasts, cooked with salt and pepper, sliced
- 3 tablespoon fresh chives, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Chop the lettuce into bite-size pieces. Place in a salad spinner or colander, and rinse well (even if the package says “pre-washed.”) It’s just a good idea to wash fruits and veggies prior to eating). If using a salad spinner, just run through the spinner to get as much water off as possible. If using a colander, gently shake to allow as much water to drain. Place chopped lettuce in a large serving bowl.
- Beginning on one side of your bowl, begin layering each ingredient in a downward row, placing them side-by-side, like stripes. See photo.
- Once salad is prepared, sprinkle the entire salad with the fresh chives.
- Place salad tongs with salad and serve. If not serving immediately, do not slice avocados and add them to the salad until you are about to serve the salad. Cover and refrigerate (without avocado).
- Serve with Green Goddess salad dressing, or your favorite dressing.
Notes
Bacon! Can all the Keto fans say, “Amen!”? Bacon is so delicious on this salad, well, any salad at that. If you have the time and would like to save your counter and clothes from getting splattered with bacon grease, bake your bacon: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet with a lip) with large enough foil that completely covers the pan and wrap the extra foil around and under the edges. The point of this is to save yourself the mess from grease splatter and cleaning the grease from your stovetop pan or griddle. This makes cleanup a piece of cake! Lay slices of bacon barely touching each other in a row on the covered sheet pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes (average). You have the option to turn the pieces over during baking, but I have found that I don’t have to take that extra time to turn them and the bacon still turns out nicely. Once the bacon has cooked to the crispness you like, remove the pan from the oven. Using tongs, remove the slices of bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and allow the grease to drain. Once your sheet pan is cool enough to handle, you have 2 options – save that delicious grease for adding fat to other recipes, or fold the foil carefully together and discard into the trash… please, take option one.
Avocados – I cannot remember where I heard this tip on checking the ripeness of avocados, but if you’ve hold an avocado in your hand, and the stem (looks more like a stump) is still intact, pop it out and look at the depression – if it’s a bright green, your avocado is most likely a good one. If it looks dark, I’d leave it alone. Also, if you can feel air pockets under the skin of the avocado, just let it be; you don’t want that one.
If you are not planning to serve this salad immediately after preparing it in your bowl, do not cut into your avocado just yet. Wait until a few minutes before you are going to serve the salad. The avocado will oxidize, just like an apple, and turn an unsightly brown. So don’t slice your avocado and place it on the salad, letting it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. Perfectly fine to eat, but not appetizing to the eyes. Everyone likes a bright green avocado. Tomatoes – I like Roma, aka Plum tomatoes. They don’t have as much moisture in them and I like how they’re small enough to layer and fit in a nice row. They’re not too large that someone wouldn’t want an entire slice of tomato. The bright red adds nice contrast to the greens, too. Blue cheese – Gorgonzola is nice in this salad. I think it’s a nice medium of the blue cheeses. If you love Roquefort, go for it. If blue is not your thing at all, you have a plethora of choices of milder cheese. You can shred or small dice from your basic cheddar to a nice Fontina or smoked Gouda. So many options! Cucumbers – Your basic cuke can work here. If you have a friend or neighbor who have grown cucumbers, they most likely have quite a few and wouldn’t mind sharing. Cucumber plants can really take over a garden. English cucumbers are supposedly less likely to make you burp. Ain’t that a fun fact? English cucumbers have a “ribbed” look to them and quite pretty when sliced. If you use a common cucumber, you can use a citrus zester to take off some of the peel, or even a vegetable peeler would do. Just don’t peel all the green off. Take off about 4 or 5 strips down the length of the cucumber. It would be a very pretty presentation on your salad. Olives – I like the saltiness of brined Kalamata olives, but I know not everyone does, so the canned black olives would be just fine here. Either would be yummy. Chicken – If you have the time to grill your chicken, that would be delicious. The smokiness, the charring…mmmm. You could even grill/cook your chicken the day before and serve cold on the salad. Slicing the chicken breasts in to 1” strips, seasoning with salt and pepper, then cooking in a cast iron skillet will make the chicken delicious, too! Eggs – Hard-boiled eggs take a little time, but these can be made a few days in advance. Just do not leave the cooked eggs at room temperature more than 2 hours after cooking. It’s recommended to use hard-boiled eggs within 7 days in the refrigerator (Healthline.com). Slice or dice them for your salad. Great source of protein, too. Red onion – It’s a pretty contrast in colors in the salad, and it’s also a delicious onion served raw. Honestly, I wouldn’t say, “Just use whatever you have in your pantry.” I’d say, “Buy one if you don’t already have one.” Chives – I saw chives listed on Wikipedia’s website information on the Cobb Salad. It sounded so fresh and delicious! You can certainly omit it all together or place the slice chives in a small bowl and each family member or guest can use them as they please. ☺ Personally, I really liked the flavor they brought.
If you are not planning to serve this salad immediately after preparing it in your bowl, do not cut into your avocado just yet. Wait until a few minutes before you are going to serve the salad. The avocado will oxidize, just like an apple, and turn an unsightly brown. So don’t slice your avocado and place it on the salad, letting it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. Perfectly fine to eat, but not appetizing to the eyes. Everyone likes a bright green avocado. Tomatoes – I like Roma, aka Plum tomatoes. They don’t have as much moisture in them and I like how they’re small enough to layer and fit in a nice row. They’re not too large that someone wouldn’t want an entire slice of tomato. The bright red adds nice contrast to the greens, too. Blue cheese – Gorgonzola is nice in this salad. I think it’s a nice medium of the blue cheeses. If you love Roquefort, go for it. If blue is not your thing at all, you have a plethora of choices of milder cheese. You can shred or small dice from your basic cheddar to a nice Fontina or smoked Gouda. So many options! Cucumbers – Your basic cuke can work here. If you have a friend or neighbor who have grown cucumbers, they most likely have quite a few and wouldn’t mind sharing. Cucumber plants can really take over a garden. English cucumbers are supposedly less likely to make you burp. Ain’t that a fun fact? English cucumbers have a “ribbed” look to them and quite pretty when sliced. If you use a common cucumber, you can use a citrus zester to take off some of the peel, or even a vegetable peeler would do. Just don’t peel all the green off. Take off about 4 or 5 strips down the length of the cucumber. It would be a very pretty presentation on your salad. Olives – I like the saltiness of brined Kalamata olives, but I know not everyone does, so the canned black olives would be just fine here. Either would be yummy. Chicken – If you have the time to grill your chicken, that would be delicious. The smokiness, the charring…mmmm. You could even grill/cook your chicken the day before and serve cold on the salad. Slicing the chicken breasts in to 1” strips, seasoning with salt and pepper, then cooking in a cast iron skillet will make the chicken delicious, too! Eggs – Hard-boiled eggs take a little time, but these can be made a few days in advance. Just do not leave the cooked eggs at room temperature more than 2 hours after cooking. It’s recommended to use hard-boiled eggs within 7 days in the refrigerator (Healthline.com). Slice or dice them for your salad. Great source of protein, too. Red onion – It’s a pretty contrast in colors in the salad, and it’s also a delicious onion served raw. Honestly, I wouldn’t say, “Just use whatever you have in your pantry.” I’d say, “Buy one if you don’t already have one.” Chives – I saw chives listed on Wikipedia’s website information on the Cobb Salad. It sounded so fresh and delicious! You can certainly omit it all together or place the slice chives in a small bowl and each family member or guest can use them as they please. ☺ Personally, I really liked the flavor they brought.
Nutrition Facts
Cobb Salad
Amount per Serving
Calories
305
% Daily Value*
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Cobb Salad
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