Cobb Salad

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This Cobb Salad has chicken, bacon, cheese, and a variety of vegetables nestled on a bed of fresh greens served with a homemade honey mustard vinaigrette. 

Who wants to eat a hot meal in the summer?  I don’t, unless it’s grilled, but most of the time I’m looking for something cold but filling for lunch. 

Often times I’ll just have a sandwich or I’ll make us a salad for lunch.  However, I get tired of the same old sandwiches and I’m usually hungry again in a few hours after I have a salad.

Enter the Cobb Salad.  This is one of my husband’s favorite salads to eat whenever we go out.  The bright, bold colors sitting on a fresh looking bed of lettuce gets me every time.

I’m all for pretty salads.   Plus it sounded like a hearty salad and I loved how it is put together in layers.  It makes for a good looking and good tasting salad.

What is a Cobb Salad?

A Cobb salad is a classic American salad that consists of chopped salad greens that are topped with rows of various ingredients arranged neatly over the greens. The traditional ingredients include chicken, bacon, hard boiled eggs, avocado, tomatoes, and blue cheese.  Of course these ingredients are often substituted depending on personal preference.

Over the years I’ve not only made this Cobb salad over and over again but I’ve made a few other versions.  I make a delicious Greek Cobb salad with artichokes, roasted red peppers, feta cheese, and a red wine vinaigrette.   I’ve also started making a Caribbean Cobb Salad with fresh mango, jerk rubbed chicken, and a spicy pineapple dressing.

One thing that varies every time I make this salad is the seasoning on the chicken.   I often go for a very simple salt, black pepper, and garlic on top of the chicken before cooking.  However, sometimes I go a little crazy and start adding a variety of seasoning blends.  Go for what you like.

Can I make a Cobb Salad ahead of time?

While you can’t make the actual salad ahead of time you can make parts of this salad ahead of time.   Cooking the chicken and bacon can be done up to one day in advance.   You can also make the hard boiled eggs up to 3 days in advance.  I would not recommend cutting the avocado or tomatoes until the day you are making this salad.  Doing these things makes assembling the salad quick whenever you are ready to eat.

Ingredients:

• chicken breast (you can also use chicken thighs if you prefer or rotisserie chicken)
• bacon
• hard boiled eggs
• cherry tomatoes (or regular tomatoes cut into small pieces)
• ripe avocado
• bell peppers (choose your favorite color and these are optional)
• red onion
• croutons
• blue cheese (or another type of cheese if you prefer)
• romaine lettuce (or mixed greens if you prefer)

To make the bacon place strips in a skillet over medium heat.   Cook for 3 minutes per side or until the bacon is crisp and browned.   Remove from the skillet and place on a paper towel to drain. 

Season the chicken with salt, black pepper, garlic, and any other seasonings you want.   Add the chicken to the pan with the bacon grease and cook over medium heat.   Saute for 6-8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Divide the lettuce and greens between four plates.   Place cherry tomatoes in a row on the right hand side of the lettuce.   Place the red onions on the opposite side of the lettuce.   Next, layer the avocado on one side and the peppers on the other side coming in towards the center of the plate.  

Then put a layer of bacon on one side and croutons on the other side.   Finally place a layer of blue cheese on one side and hard boiled eggs on the other side.   Place the chicken right in the middle.  All of the ingredients should be lined up in rows. 

Can I switch out some ingredients?

You certainly can change out ingredients for whatever you like.   Just keep the chicken, bacon, hard boiled eggs, and avocado.  The other ingredients can be switched out.  My husband loves the classic blue cheese but I usually use a sharp cheddar cut into very small cubes.  I enjoy the color and flavor of the red onions but I know some people in my family do not like these onions.  Croutons are optional but I like the crunch and flavor it adds.    Mix and match to make your perfect salad.

This was one of the best salads I’ve ever had.  Not only did it look great, it tasted awesome as well!  The chicken and bacon make it a great entree salad and the variety of vegetables was delicious. 

The honey mustard vinaigrette was the perfect pairing for this salad.  I really enjoyed taking bites of the vegetables I wanted at a certain time and mixing different ingredients together in piles on my plate.

My husband enjoyed his salad with the blue cheese the recipe called for but I put cheddar on mine instead.  We both thought this was a great salad and I’ll be putting this on our menu plan often this summer.

Cobb Salad

Chicken, bacon, cheese, and a variety of fresh vegetables nestled on a bed of fresh greens served with homemade honey mustard vinaigrette.

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 salads

Author: Hezzi-D

Equipment

• 1 large skillet

Ingredients

For the Vinaigrette:

• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/3 c. olive oil

For the salad:

• 6 slices bacon
• 1 lb. skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 head romaine lettuce washed and chopped into ribbons
• 1 head iceberg lettuce washed and chopped into ribbons
• 2 large hard boiled eggs
• 1 c. grape tomatoes halved
• 1 medium avocado pitted and cubed
• 1 bell pepper diced
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 1 c. croutons
• 4 oz. blue cheese or cheddar if you don’t like blue

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients for the vinaigrette in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook for 3 minutes per side or until the bacon is crisp and browned. Remove from skillet and place on a paper towel to drain. Crumble bacon.
• Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and any additional seasonings.
• Heat the bacon grease in the same large skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken and saute for 6-8 minutes, turning frequently, until chicken is cooked through.
• Divide the lettuce and greens between four plates.
• Place cherry tomatoes in a row on the right hand side of the plate on top of the lettuce. Place the red onions on the opposite side of the plate on top of the lettuce.
• Next, layer the avocado on one side next to the tomatoes and the peppers on the other side next to the red onions,coming in towards the center of the plate.
• Then put a layer of bacon on one side next to the avocado and croutons on the other side next to the peppers. Finally place a layer of blue cheese on one side next to the bacon and hard boiled eggs on the other side next to the cheese.
• Place the chicken right in the middle. All of the ingredients should be lined up in rows.
• Serve with the homemade vinaigrette dressing.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated