The Classic Cobb Salad

As far as I’m concerned, the King of salads is the Caesar Salad, while the Queen of salads is the classic Cobb Salad. Throw in the Wedge Salad with blue cheese dressing, and you have the trifecta of my three all-time favorite salads. But for today, let’s focus on Cobb!

Any salad can be a side, but not every salad can be a meal! Sure, you can add protein to any salad and pretend it’s a meal, but there are some salads that are meant to be meals, like the classic Cobb Salad.  The Cobb salad is an American invention with a history that goes back to the 1930’s. Legend has it that the salad was created by the owner of the Hollywood Brown Derby Restaurant, Robert Howard Cobb.

Traditionally, the salad includes chopped salad greens, raw vegetables, hard boiled eggs, bacon, chicken, and dressing (usually a vinaigrette) with blue cheese crumbled on top – certainly enough hearty ingredients to make it a meal! But attention paid to a few details will go a long way to ensuring that a typical Cobb Salad is transformed from ordinary to extraordinary – here are my secrets:

• Use romaine lettuce as the base for the salad – it has more flavor than iceberg and it's also a heartier lettuce that stands up well to all of the toppings when chopped into perfect 1-inch bite-sized pieces.

  
  

• Cook your bacon properly – that means in a pan (not an oven) for maximum flavor and nicely browned until the fat is properly rendered but the bacon is still tender, but not crispy.

  
  

• Cook your hard-boiled eggs properly as well – that means boiling them just enough, so the yolk is cooked through, but not dried out. I have a fool-proof method for doing this that I’ll share with you in the recipe below!

  
  

• Buy a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store – it saves a lot of time, and you can use the leftover chicken carcass to make a large batch of homemade chicken stock (Laurie’s recipe for that is on deck for a future blog post!).

• Finally, making your own red wine vinaigrette dressing is easy and so much better than the store-bought varieties – just a few fresh ingredients make all the difference in the world!

  
  

Laurie and I usually make enough for leftovers, which we turn into Cobb Salad wraps using flour tortillas (or the tortillas of your choice)! Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!

Also, before we get to the recipe, I just wanted to remind my readers that I will be taking the month of June off from blogging as usual but will be back in time for the 4th of July where I'll share my lists of modern-day American heroes in honor of the 4th!

The Classic Cob Salad (Serves 4 as a main course)

This hearty and filling salad makes a great main course. Using the freshest and highest quality ingredients is the key to making this classic dish shine. And best of all, you can prep all the ingredients ahead of time and then put them all together right before serving for an easy weeknight or weekend dinner – it’s perfect for entertaining as well. Pair with a zesty Pinot Gris from Oregon or a Pinot Grigio from Italy.

Ingredients

3 pre-packaged romaine lettuce hearts, chopped into 1-inch pieces

2 avocados – peeled, pitted, and chopped into ½-inch pieces

1-pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 English cucumber – seeded, quartered lengthwise, and then cut into ½-inch pieces

1 3-4 lb. cooked rotisserie chicken, white and dark meat removed and chopped into 1-inch pieces

12 oz. thick cut smoked bacon

8 large eggs

1 recipe blue cheese red wine vinaigrette dressing (see recipe below)

Directions

Heat a 12-inch non-stick pan over medium heat. Add bacon, 4 slices at a time, and cook, flipping frequently, until bacon is nicely browned and most of the fat has rendered. Remove and place on a paper towel-lined plate.

Meanwhile, place the eggs in a large saucepan and fill with cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch. Bring the water to a low boil over medium heat. Turn the heat off, cover, and let the eggs sit in the water for 10 minutes. Drain the eggs, rinse under cold water, and then let them sit in cold water until they cool completely. Peel the eggs under cold running water. Quarter the eggs lengthwise and then chop into ½-inch pieces.

Assemble the salad on plates by placing the chopped lettuce on the plate first. Then place each of the toppings in rows across the lettuce. Drizzle with the dressing and serve immediately.

Blue Cheese Red Wine Vinaigrette (Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

1 small shallot, finely diced

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. fresh chives, finely chopped

3 tbsp. red wine vinegar

6 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 oz. crumbled blue cheese, divided

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Place the first four ingredients into a medium bowl and stir to combine. Slowly whisk the oil into the bowl until oil is fully incorporated. Add the chives, 2 oz. of the blue cheese, and salt and pepper to taste – stir to incorporate. Spoon over salad and sprinkle with remaining 1 oz. blue cheese and then serve immediately.