Cobb Salad for Two

Each component gets its own moment: chicken cooked simply with salt and pepper or a favorite spice blend, bacon crisped until it shatters, corn cooked and cut from the cob, egg boiled or fried depending on preference. Avocado, tomato, cucumber, and carrot bring the color and freshness, and two cheeses; an aged cheddar or Gouda alongside a strong blue, give the plate both mellow and sharp notes. A simple oil and vinegar dressing, or a buttermilk ranch, ties everything together without overwhelming any one ingredient.

Serving the components unmixed, arranged on a bed of lettuce, means each person can build their plate according to what they like; more of one cheese, less of another, blue cheese for one and not the other. It looks more deliberate than a tossed salad and gives two people more control over their own bowl, which is its own kind of luxury.

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Key Ingredients in This Recipe

• Chicken breast – you can also use deli sliced chicken or rotisserie chicken.
• Bacon or pancetta
• Corn – fresh or canned
• Egg – boiled or fried
• Tomatoes – Normal size tomatoes, that you quarter or cut even smaller or use cherry tomatoes.
• Avocado
• Cucumber – Leave skin on for color.
• Carrots
• Lettuce – All varieties possible from romaine to a fancy lettuce mix.
• Onion – I am not a fan of raw onion, so not in this Cobb Salad, but add sliced or diced onion if you like.
• Cheddar cheese – or Gouda Cheese. Also many options, and I would select a cheese that has some age to it. It will add to the flavor combination.
• Blue cheese – Many options again. I would suggest going with a relatively strong blue cheese, like Roquefort, Danish Blue, Maytag Blue, or Point Reyes Original Blue.

How to Make Cobb Salad with Ranch Dressing

Step 1– Started with chicken. Keep it simple with just salt and pepper, or use an interesting or favorite spice blend. The chicken takes the longest to cook and it also has to cool. As far as cooking the chicken yourself, I recommend to grill it or pan-cooking to get crispy and flavorful chicken meat.

Step 2 – Prepare the corn. Bring water and salt to a boil and cook the corn on the cob for about 10 minutes. Then cut the corn off the cob. You can also first cut the cooked corn off the cob and then cook it.

Step 3 – Cook the bacon or pancetta. You can do this in a skillet or in a sheet pan in the oven. Both will work, just make sure the end result is crispy.

Step 4 – Cook the egg. Boil 4-10 minutes, depending on how hard you like your egg to be. Alternatively, you can fry the egg.

Step 5 – Prepare the simple and quick vinaigrette; oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. You can still add some extra flavor by choosing a flavored oil and a wine vinegar. Alternatively, make a dressing, you have some options here:

Step 6 – Chop the vegetables/fruit and cheese(s).

Step 7 – Serve the salad.

• Serve the salad the way I show in the pictures, with ingredients cut in relatively large pieces. I like to keep the cuts large, so you can see what’s in the salad. You can also chop the individual ingredient in much smaller pieces, all about the same size and crumble the eggs, bacon and blue cheese. A different look.
• Mix the salad before serving or leave the mixing up to each person on their plate. I like to serve the salad unmixed; all ingredients in their own spot on top of the lettuce. This way you can add ingredients specifically for 1 person. E.g. more than 1 cheese, so people who don’t like blue cheese have an alternative.
• Not mixing the salad looks prettier than mixed.
• Serve the dressing separate from the salad, this way each person can decide whether they want to use dressing and how much.

Alternative Dressings

• Caesar Dressing: garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, mayo, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.
• Creamy Italian Dressing: vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, mayo, honey, garlic and herbs like basil, oregano, parsley, thyme.
• Thousand Island Dressing: mayo, ketchup, hard-boiled egg, vinegar and sweet pickle relish.
• A more involved dressing would be a ranch dressing, however I used a ready made dry mix. You only have to add milk and mayo and you’re done. You can even make it ahead of time and store it for a couple of days in the fridge.

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Alternatives and Substitutes

• Salmon instead of chicken; smoked or cooked
• Add red onion rings
• Add pine nuts, pecans or walnuts
• Add grilled tofu
• Try Halloumi or goat cheese instead of blue cheese

Whatever you decide, it will be a great and delicious salad that’s also healthy and filling.