Today's recipe: The recipe for a classic Cobb salad made from the traditional Cobb salad ingredients: chicken, bacon, tomato, avocado, hard-cooked egg and blue cheese. Quick to assemble and impressive-looking. Low carb. Weight Watchers 7 points.
A Cobb salad just 'looks' so good, yes? And I was much pleased that a homemade (and much lighter) Cobb salad could taste so good, too.
Like many main dish salads, Cobb salad is an exercise in planning since it calls for cooked chicken, cooked bacon (Note to Vegetarians) plus hard-cooked eggs and a gorgeous buttermilk garlic dressing. THAT said, however, if the ingredients are already cooked, it assembles in minutes. And if they're not cooked, it took less time than I'd have thought to put the whole thing together start-to-finish -- about 30 minutes -- an effort yes, but definitely worth doing.
It's also a lesson in portion size management. Since a Cobb salad includes four proteins -- chicken, bacon, egg and cheese -- plus high-calorie avocado, the calories will really mount up unless small amounts of each of the four add up to just a single portion of protein. To my taste, this salad was extra satisfying and very filling -- even several hours later -- so will definitely make this again.
HISTORY of COBB SALAD The story goes that a hungry owner of the landmark Los Angeles restaurant the Brown Derby threw together this salad after raiding the restaurant fridge. His name was Bob Cobb and suddenly, one of the most famous salads was born. What makes a Cobb salad distinctive, however, is not so much its ingredients (after all, it's much like a BLT, much like a club sandwich) but its distinctive composition, rows of single ingredients rather than one big mash-up. Any mix of ingredients splayed out in even rows would be equally impressive!
MORE MAIN DISH SALAD RECIPES
~ Roasted Beet Salad Supper ~
~ Arugula Salad with Smoke Trout & Peach Preserve Dressing ~
~ Asian Chicken Salad from Kitchen Parade ~
~ more recipes for salad suppers ~
~ Roasted Beet Salad Supper ~
~ Arugula Salad with Smoke Trout & Peach Preserve Dressing ~
~ Asian Chicken Salad from Kitchen Parade ~
~ more recipes for salad suppers ~
COBB SALAD
Hands-on time: 10 minutes per salad (with cooked ingredients)
Time to table: 10 minutes
Serves as many as needed
Time to table: 10 minutes
Serves as many as needed
PER SALAD
Lettuce greens
1 tablespoon Buttermilk Garlic Dressing
Toss the greens and dressing together. Arrange in a large flat bowl.
In rows, top the greens with:
1/4 a cooked chicken breast, chopped (I used grilled chicken but you could also poach the chicken as in this recipe for Lemon Chive Chicken Salad)
2 tablespoons cooked bacon (how to make homemade bacon bits)
1/2 hard-cooked egg, chopped (how to cook perfect hard-boiled eggs)
1 Roma tomato, chopped
2 tablespoons blue cheese, crumbled (I substituted feta because it was on hand)
1/4 a ripe avocado, cubed
TIP Arrange the lower-calorie ingredients (tomato, chicken and egg) in the longer inside rows and the higher-calorie ingredients (avocado, bacon, cheese) on the shorter outside rows.
NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Salad (not including dressing): 335 Cal (49% from Fat, 36% from Protein, 15% from Carb); 31 g Protein; 19 g Tot Fat; 6 g Sat Fat; 8 g Mono Fat; 13 g Carb; 6 g Fiber; NetCarb 7; 4 g Sugar; 175 mg Calcium; 3 mg Iron; 634 mg Sodium; 188 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 7 points
NOW PLEASE, before anyone goes thinking that a Cobb Salad normally racks up only Weight Watchers 7 points, please know that while very filling and satisfying, the portion size allowed here is likely small compared to restaurants. Dressing isn't included in the points to allow for use of either the recommended dressing (for 0 points) or a commercial dressing with higher calories. As a comparison, Ruby Tuesday's Club House Salad which is similar racks up 16 points and likely doesn't include dressing either.
TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Adapted from Simply Salads
by Jennifer Chandler, which promises to be one of my favorite cookbooks of the summer, since it's packed with ideas for salads made with lettuce greens.
Many thanks to Laurel Bryant for the cookbook recommendation! Laurel and I chatted briefly while ordering pizza from Racanelli's one Friday evening a year or more ago. It took me awhile to order it but I'm so glad I did! Look for more recipes throughout the summer since one of my summer goals for A Veggie Venture is to share more main dish salad recipes.
Per Salad (not including dressing): 335 Cal (49% from Fat, 36% from Protein, 15% from Carb); 31 g Protein; 19 g Tot Fat; 6 g Sat Fat; 8 g Mono Fat; 13 g Carb; 6 g Fiber; NetCarb 7; 4 g Sugar; 175 mg Calcium; 3 mg Iron; 634 mg Sodium; 188 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 7 points
NOW PLEASE, before anyone goes thinking that a Cobb Salad normally racks up only Weight Watchers 7 points, please know that while very filling and satisfying, the portion size allowed here is likely small compared to restaurants. Dressing isn't included in the points to allow for use of either the recommended dressing (for 0 points) or a commercial dressing with higher calories. As a comparison, Ruby Tuesday's Club House Salad which is similar racks up 16 points and likely doesn't include dressing either.
TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Adapted from Simply Salads
by Jennifer Chandler, which promises to be one of my favorite cookbooks of the summer, since it's packed with ideas for salads made with lettuce greens.Many thanks to Laurel Bryant for the cookbook recommendation! Laurel and I chatted briefly while ordering pizza from Racanelli's one Friday evening a year or more ago. It took me awhile to order it but I'm so glad I did! Look for more recipes throughout the summer since one of my summer goals for A Veggie Venture is to share more main dish salad recipes.
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