The mighty Cobb Salad has arrived!
Served with a homemade Cobb Salad dressing.
Salad was never so delicious!
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Though actually, it was traditionally made with turkey rather than chicken.
But these days chicken is more common, especially for homemade versions.
The presence of blue cheese is also essential otherwise, its just another chicken salad!
Ingredients in Cobb Salad
Feel free to cut the vegetables as you wish.
Some like them more chunky, to give the salad a sense of heft.
Others prefer them chopped into smaller pieces.
Its entirely up to you!
Cobb Salad Vegetables
Here are the vegetables in a classic Cobb Salad.
You want around 12 cups, lightly packed, slightly heaped.
I know, its hard to measure!
The recipe has plenty of dressing!
Tomatoes Either 2 large ones cut into chunks (I prefer this) or 250g/8oz cherry tomatoes, halved.
Avocados Two medium avocados or one really large on.
Chives This is an optional garnish.
Finely chop then sprinkled on at the end.
Cobb Salad Proteins & Blue Cheese
Not a fan of blue cheese?Youre missing out!
Though not standard, I like to toss my cooked chicken in a little salt, pepper and dressing.
Bacon These days I tend to cook the strips whole then chop afterwards because its less effort.
But for me, theres no question: creamy is better than crumbly/drier.
Creamy blue cheese smears and gets on everything, and everything it touches is tastier!!
My favourite blue cheese for salads is gorgonzola.
Though if you like your blue cheese really sharp, then go for Gorgonzola Picante!
New to blue cheese?Try Blue Castello.
Its probably the most mild out of all the blue cheese, plus its better value.
Boiled eggs I like mine soft boiled so the yolks are slightly jammy but not runny.
9 minutes in boiling water boil the water first, lower eggs in then set the timer!
(Boiled egg directionshere).
Cobb Salad Dressing ingredients
As noted above, Cobb Salad Dressing is tangier than typical vinaigrettes.
Extra virgin olive oil Use the best you could afford!
The better the olive oil, the tastier your dressings.
Apple cider vinegar Good all rounder vinegar for dressings thats not as sharp as white vinegar.
Substitute with white wine or red wine vinegar.
So the dressing would be very watery without the dijon.
Also, the flavour is not as sharp as ordinary onions.
This adds good value into the dressing so dont skip it!Substitutewith 1 tablespoon finely grated red onion.
Sugar Just 1/2 a teaspoon takes a bit of the tangy edge off this dressing.
Im using a classic Cobb Salad dressing today so theres no garlic in it.
But a finely grated garlic clove certainly wouldnt go astray here!
How to make Cobb Salad
The presentation of Cobb Salad is one of its defining features.
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Traditionally, its served on a large platter with the ingredients artfully arranged in neat rows.
I see no reason to stray from tradition when it looks so good!
Dressing Shake everything up in a jar.
Cook baconstripsuntil crisp then chop.
(See comment in the ingredients section about my preference to cook first then chop later these days).
Poach chicken breastusing myfoolproof poached chicken recipe.
(plonk in boiling water, turn stove off, leave 20 minutes.
Works every-single-time, and the chicken isjuicy!).
Chop & toss Cool chicken, dice into 2cm / 0.8 cubes.
Toss with salt, pepper and a slosh of Dressing.
Assemble Pile the lettuce onto a large platter or bowl.
Arrange the following across the surface in neat rows: chicken, avocado, tomato, bacon, egg.
Crumble blue cheese across the surface, then scatter with chives.
Serve with dressing on the side.
To eat Let everybody help themselves to the salad, and drizzle on Dressing.
Not sure if this is the traditional way to serve Cobb Salad, but it works for me!
