Sunday Supper Cobb Salad

Hello, welcome to Sunday Supper. This is a perfect meal for a lazy summer Sunday. A salad of epic proportion; the Cobb Salad has bacon, rotisserie chicken, avocado, eggs, tomatoes and gorgonzola. Dressed in a simple red wine vinaigrette. We love a big salad at the Djalali House, sometimes it’s just for convenience. But other times, like this time, we are pulling out all the stops. By which I mean, we made our own rotisserie chicken. Recently Alex got a rotisserie grill accessory, and I have to say, this thing is pretty cool. As we watched the chicken turn on the spit, visions of rotisserie-d everything were dancing in my head. But I digress, Let’s get to the recipe!

The chicken in this Cobb Salad is the first thing we made with the rotisserie, it turned out so well! You can use store bought rotisserie chicken, you can roast a chicken in the oven, or you can use leftover chicken. Use what’s available to you. I will say, if you have grill that has available rotisserie accessories, I highly recommend the investment.

While the chicken was roasting, I baked off a package of bacon and boiled four eggs. I made 9-minute eggs, because I like the yolks to be cooked through, but still moist and creamy. Once cooked and cooled, I roughly chopped the bacon into bite-size pieces. I used only one breast for the salad, chopping it into bite-size pieces. Once the chicken and bacon was prepped, I chopped, washed and spun the two romaine hearts.

Building the Cobb Salad

I am using a wide, shallow bowl to build this salad, and I am just going to prep each vegetable as I build the salad. So I first added the lettuce in an even layer in the bottom of the bowl. Then I layered a row of chicken on one side and a row of bacon on the other side. We will add each ingredient in a nice row, working inward toward the center. As you layer the rows, consider the color and texture differences of each ingredient and try to create a variety between the colors, textures and flavors.

Next add the quartered hard boiled eggs. I chose to layer the eggs next to the bacon because the bacon is crunchy and chewy, while the eggs are soft and creamy.

Then, halve and slice the avocado into thin slices and scoop out the slices with a spoon large enough to remove all the slices, being careful not to break the slices as you scoop them out. I chose to layer the avocado alongside the chicken – again for the texture contrast between the tender chicken and soft creaminess of the avocado.

Next up we have the tomatoes. I am still waiting for local tomatoes, so in the meantime I like to use grape or cherry tomatoes, they are sweet and bite-size. I just slice them in half lengthwise, on the bias for visual interest.

Blue Cheese

A classic Cobb Salad has a type of blue cheese, I have chosen Gorgonzola. Pre-crumbled or shredded cheeses are convenient but they contain a coating to keep the crumbles or shreds from clumping. This coating alters the texture of the cheese and cam make it harder to melt for things like pizza. I have recently opted to put in the extra step of grating or crumbling a block of cheese and the difference has been noticeable. So for the gorgonzola in this salad, I just pulled small pieces off the block, which was super creamy so this was a bit messy, but the extra creamy pieces of gorgonzola really gave this salad a rich, deep blue cheese flavor.

Because the gorgonzola is super creamy and doesn’t contain the anti-caking agent in the pre-crumbled cheese, I decided to distribute the pieces of cheese over the whole salad, instead of creating a row of just cheese. Then, I sprinkled finely diced chives over the whole salad.

Red Wine Vinegar Dressing

Typically a simple Red Wine Vinegar Dressing will have a ratio of 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, but I like more zing to my dressings to I like to go 1:1, vinegar and oil. To this I am adding a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Add the three ingredients to a jar, screw on the lid and shake vigorously to fully emulsify the oil and vinegar.

Just before serving, pour about 1/2 cup of the dressing over the whole salad.

To Finish

To finish, sprinkle a liberal amount of flaky sea salt over the whole salad. I am using Jacobsen Flake Finishing Salt, I like the size and pyramid shape of its salt crystals. I use my thumb and forefinger to slightly crush the crystals as I sprinkle them over the salad.

Finally, top the salad with fresh cracked black pepper. And this Cobb Salad is ready to serve!

To serve, position the bowl so the rows of toppings are in a vertical orientation toward you, and using salad serving spoons, hold a spoon on either side of the bowl and bring the two spoons together toward the center; scooping across the rows, so each scoop/serving collects some of each row of toppings.

A Very Special Main Course Salad

These are classic Cobb Salad ingredients, but the ratios are completely up to you. Just try to create a balanced salad. I hope you give this salad a try, it’s really satisfying and so perfect for a lazy summer Sunday Supper. Pin this recipe, to keep it on repeat all summer long! If you want another salad perfect for summer picnics, try my Antipasto Salad – it’s perfect for any get together. Thank you all for joining me today, have a wonderful day! Take care and be well, xo Kelly

Print Recipe

Cobb Salad

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Dinner, Main Course – American

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 4-6

Prep Time: 20 Minutes – Cooking Time: 15-20 Minutes – Total Time: ~40 Minutes

A salad of epic proportion; the Cobb Salad has bacon, rotisserie chicken, avocado, eggs, tomatoes and gorgonzola. Dressed in a simple red wine vinaigrette.

Ingredients

• 1 Head Romaine lettuce (or 2 Romaine hearts), chopped into bite-size pieces
• 6 strips of Cooked Bacon, chopped into bite-size pieces
• 1-2 Rotisserie Chicken Breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces
• 4 Hard Boiled Eggs, peeled and quartered lengthwise
• 1 Avocado, halved, pitted and sliced into thin strips
• 10 Grape or Cherry Tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• Gorgonzola Cheese, crumbled
• 2 tbsp. Finely Chopped Chives
• Jacobsen Flaky Finishing Salt
• Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
• Dressing
• 1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp. Dijon Mustard

Instructions

1

In a wide, shallow serving bowl, arrange chopped romaine in an even layer.

2

Working in vertical rows, add each prepped ingredient working from the outer edges of the bowl, to the center.

3

Top whole salad with gorgonzola pieces and sprinkle chives over salad.

Dressing

4

Add vinegar, oil and Dijon to a jar, tighten the lid and vigorously shake until well emulsified.

5

Pour 1/2 cup of dressing evenly over the salad.

6

Finish with flaky finishing seas salt and fresh cracked black pepper