I like pretty much all salads, but I can sometimes get into a rut, making the same old tossed salad with the same simple vegetables and dressing. So I decided to do something different and make a big cobb salad with a new salad dressing to branch out a bit. This was really good and was a complete meal in itself. It does take a bit of prep time to cut cook/cut-up all of the toppings, but if you cut the vegetables up ahead of time and pre-cook the eggs, chicken and/or bacon, it saves a lot of time when you go to assemble the salad. The dijon vinaigrette was really good without being over-powering. I doubled the amounts of the ingredients that I have listed for the dressing so that I would have extra for other salads, and I'm glad I did because it is so good!
Classic Cobb Salad
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
8 slices all-natural, pasture-raised bacon
4 organic free-range eggs
1 Tbsp white vinegar
Kosher salt
2 organic free-range chicken breasts
Salt, pepper and garlic powder, for seasoning
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 shallot, minced (about 2 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper, to taste in dressing
2 avocados
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
3 heads organic romaine lettuce, washed and torn into pieces
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange bacon on baking sheet and cook in preheated oven until crisp, about 8 minutes, turning at 4 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on paper towels to collect excess fat. When cool enough to handle, crumble bacon and set aside.
2. Place eggs in pan and cover with cold water and add white vinegar. Bring to boil. Remove from heat and cover. Let stand for 15 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool. Peel and chop eggs and season with kosher salt.
3. Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Brush with olive oil. Heat grill pan and grill pan top over medium high heat. Place chicken breasts on grill pan and cover with grill pan top. Grill about 4-5 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove from heat and let sit for 3-4 minutes. Slice chicken into strips.
4. To make the dressing: whisk together cider vinegar, shallot, mustard, salt, and pepper. Toss sliced chicken with 1 Tbsp of dressing in a separate bowl.
5. Remove skin and pits from avocados and dice. Season diced tomatoes with salt.
6. In a large bowl, place dressing on bottom, topped with lettuce.Arrange bacon, eggs, chicken, avocados, tomatoes, and blue cheese in rows on top of lettuce. When ready to serve, toss salad and season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.
(Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine's recipe on foodnetwork.com)
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange bacon on baking sheet and cook in preheated oven until crisp, about 8 minutes, turning at 4 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on paper towels to collect excess fat. When cool enough to handle, crumble bacon and set aside.
2. Place eggs in pan and cover with cold water and add white vinegar. Bring to boil. Remove from heat and cover. Let stand for 15 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool. Peel and chop eggs and season with kosher salt.
3. Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Brush with olive oil. Heat grill pan and grill pan top over medium high heat. Place chicken breasts on grill pan and cover with grill pan top. Grill about 4-5 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove from heat and let sit for 3-4 minutes. Slice chicken into strips.
4. To make the dressing: whisk together cider vinegar, shallot, mustard, salt, and pepper. Toss sliced chicken with 1 Tbsp of dressing in a separate bowl.
5. Remove skin and pits from avocados and dice. Season diced tomatoes with salt.
6. In a large bowl, place dressing on bottom, topped with lettuce.Arrange bacon, eggs, chicken, avocados, tomatoes, and blue cheese in rows on top of lettuce. When ready to serve, toss salad and season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.
(Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine's recipe on foodnetwork.com)
What are the nutritional benefits of this meal? Pasture-raised bacon, like all pasture-raised meats, is higher in omega-3 fatty acids compared to conventional meat. They provide protein, and are also one of the best food sources of choline. Chicken is an excellent source of protein and is rich in B vitamins. Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fats that have been shown to boost HDL (good cholesterol), and are an excellent source of vitamins C,E and carotenoids lycopene and beta carotene, as well as the minerals selenium and zinc. Tomatoes are high in vitamin C and lycopene. Red onions are rich in quercetin, a type of antioxidant, as well as vitamins and minerals, including vitamins C, K, folate, thiamin, and minerals calcium, magnesium, potassium and manganese. Romaine lettuce is an excellent source of vitamins, A, K and folate, as well as the mineral molybdenum, and is a very good source of fiber, minerals manganese, potassium, copper, and iron, as well as vitamins biotin, B1 (thiamin) and C. Blue cheese is a great source of protein and calcium.
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