Raise your hand if this is your FAVORITE salad.
My hand is raised.
Someone decided to put the world’s best ingredients on a plate, and by someone, I guess I mean Robert Howard Cobb.
What else could make this salad better? The answer: nothing. Nothing could make it better. I mean, chicken, bacon, avocado, tomatoes, hardboiled eggs, and blue cheese = perfection.
Now, you may be wondering why I claim this to be a healthy Cobb salad. Well, some may think Cobb salad isn’t healthy because of you know the bacon, blue cheese, eggs, and avocado. It has a lot of high calorie ingredients in it. But I think these high calorie foods are really good for you because they’re non-processed, real food calories. This Cobb salad is chuck full of healthy fats.
But the quality of your Cobb salad ingredients will make a big difference in how healthy it can be. For example, I use chicken and eggs from pasture-raised chickens, and bacon from pasture-raised pigs. You can buy pasture-raised meat and eggs from some local farmers or retailers like Real Foods Market. I use organic green leaf or Bibb lettuce rather than iceberg, and organic tomatoes and avocados. And I top it with either my homemade ranch dressing or a store-bought organic dressing like Cindy’s Kitchen Buttermilk Ranch, Annie’s Homegrown Organic Ranch, or Simply Dressed Blue Cheese. Using these high quality ingredients will ensure you’re eating a pesticide-free, nutrient dense, healthy salad.
The only negative feeling I have toward Cobb salad is it’s not the easiest salad to throw together. Having to prep the chicken, bacon, and hardboiled eggs can take some time. So, I only make Cobb salad when I have chicken and bacon leftovers. And I purposefully plan for it in my weekly meal plan. I hard boil a bunch of eggs on Monday, cook a whole roast chicken for dinner on Tuesday, fry bacon for breakfast on Wednesday, and then make a Cobb salad for dinner on Thursday.
Or something like that.
Planning for it ahead of time turns this slightly time-consuming salad into an easy meal. So now you can make it at home instead of ordering it every time you go out to eat. Or you can make it at home and still order it every time you go out to eat ?
- 2 heads lettuce, washed and chopped
- 1 cup shredded or chopped cooked chicken
- ½ lb bacon, fried until crisp and chopped
- 3 hardboiled eggs, peeled and chopped
- 1 avocado, diced
- ½ cup grape tomatoes, halved
- ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles
- pepper, to taste
- blue cheese or ranch dressing
- Combine lettuce, chicken, bacon, hardboiled eggs, avocado, tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles, and pepper in a large bowl.
- Toss lightly until combined.
- Dish onto salad plates.
- Top with blue cheese or ranch dressing.
I use leftover chicken from a whole roasted chicken, but grilled chicken works great too.
Disclaimer: Some of the above links are Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on them and purchase a product I will earn a commission on that product with no extra cost to you. I have used all of the products listed and I highly recommend them.
Leave a Reply