Chicken Cobb Salad

Cobb salad is an American favorite. It is a loaded salad, filled with protein and all kinds of goodness. A classic Cobb salad is special because it features a carefully arranged layout of finely chopped ingredients in neat, distinct rows rather than being tossed together. It’s definitely a loaded salad, and usually loaded with calories too. They can be healthy, but they are loaded with fat, especially if they have a lot of bacon and high fat cheese. Don’t be fooled that it is low in calories just because it has the name salad. Cobb salads can be healthy and nutritious, but restaurant versions often contain 700 to 1,000 calories due to heavy portions of bacon, cheese, and dressing.

The Cobb salad was invented in 1937 by Robert “Bob” Cobb, owner of The Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, California. Legend says Cobb raided the kitchen refrigerator near midnight for a hungry friend, theater owner Sid Grauman, chopping up leftover chicken, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, tomatoes, and cheese, then tossing it with French dressing.

Our weather is still HOT, but it has cooled down slightly. It is still definitely salad weather though. So, I made a cool Cobb salad to help us beat the heat. I served it with some warm olive bread on the side and and a cool crisp Portuguese Albarino, and it was perfect for a hot summer’s day.

Believe it or not, my version was actually pretty darn close to the original version too, though I added a few more vegetables to my version. The original recipe calls for iceberg or Romaine lettuce, Roquefort or bleu cheese, bacon, hard boiled egg, chicken, avocado, tomatoes, green onions and a red wine vinaigrette or French dressing. Mine had all that and then some. I also added cucumber slices, green beans, red onions, white beans and hearts of palm. Larry’s salad had 2 kinds of cheese, Feta and a Mexican blend (3 kinds really because it was a blend of cheeses). Mine had NO cheese. I don’t know what kind of dressing Larry put on his, but I used my tomato vinaigrette for mine. I also added some roasted pepita seeds to mine. So for me, I actually did follow the “recipe” fairly closely. That’s pretty rare for me. 🙂

My salads are usually pretty healthy because I use a wide variety of vegetables in my “kitchen sink” salads. According to Reddit, “The healthiest salad is a “kitchen-sink” style bowl with a dark leafy green base, a rainbow of raw or roasted vegetables, a plant or lean protein, healthy fats, and a simple oil-and-vinegar dressing. This is exactly how I like to make my salads too. There is no single named recipe, but rather a combination of nutrient-dense components. So mine definitely qualify. 🙂

Stay cool and stay healthy. Life is short. Make the most out of everyday and live life to the fullest. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.