Cobb Salad

Cobb Salad

A classic American composed salad from the Brown Derby in Hollywood, traditionally arranged in neat rows of chopped ingredients over chopped lettuce and dressed with a red-wine vinaigrette.

Prep

25 min

Cook

20 min

Total

45 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •300 g (10½ oz) boneless skinless chicken breast, poached or pan-grilled
• •200 g (7 oz) thick-cut bacon
• •2 whole large eggs, plus 1 extra if you want a chopped-egg row
• •2 whole ripe avocados, just ripe, not mushy
• •2 whole ripe tomatoes, beefsteak or heirloom
• •100 g (3½ oz) blue cheese, crumbled, cold
• •1 whole small head romaine lettuce, or mixed with watercress and chicory
• •2 whole spring onions, finely sliced
• •60 ml (¼ cup) red wine vinegar
• •1 tsp Dijon mustard
• •1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• •1 small clove garlic, grated to a paste
• •150 ml (⅔ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
• •1 g (pinch) salt
• •1 g (pinch) black pepper, freshly ground

Steps

1. 1 Place the eggs in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to a gentle boil, then cook for 9 minutes for a firm yolk. Transfer to iced water, cool, peel and chop.
2. 2 Pat the chicken dry, season with salt and pepper, and either poach (simmer gently in lightly salted water for 12–14 minutes, until the internal temperature reads 74°C / 165°F on an instant-read thermometer) or pan-grill over medium heat for 5–6 minutes per side to the same internal temperature. Rest 5 minutes, then chop into bite-sized pieces.
3. 3 Cook the bacon in a heavy skillet over medium heat until deep golden and crisp, 6–8 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then crumble or chop.
4. 4 Core and finely chop the romaine (and any watercress/chicory). Wash and dry thoroughly, then spread as the base on a wide platter or in a shallow bowl.
5. 5 Make the vinaigrette: whisk the vinegar, Dijon, Worcestershire, garlic paste, salt and pepper in a bowl. Slowly stream in the olive oil while whisking until emulsified. The original Brown Derby used a French-style red-wine vinaigrette; this is the home-kitchen version.
6. 6 Halve, pit and peel the avocados, then chop. Core the tomatoes and chop into similar-sized pieces. Crumble the blue cheese.
7. 7 Arrange the chopped chicken, bacon, egg, avocado, tomato and blue cheese in neat parallel rows across the lettuce, with the sliced spring onions as a seventh row. The classic Cobb has these rows; do not toss before serving.
8. 8 Serve immediately, passing the vinaigrette at the table so each person dresses their own portion. Toss just before eating.