Picture Perfect Cobb Salad

 

Ingredients 

For the Vinaigrette: (makes 1 1/2 cups)

• 1/2 cup (120 ml) red wine vinegar

• 1 small shallot (1 ounce; 28 g), roughly chopped (about 1/4 cup)

• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) honey

• 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2/3 cup (165 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

For the Salad:

• 4 small heads romaine lettuce (6 ounce; 170 g each), chopped (about 10 cups)

• 3 cups (1/2-inch cubed) poached chicken breasts, (about two 12 ounce; 340 g each)

• 6 ounces cherry tomatoes (1 cup; 170 g), halved

• 8 slices cooked bacon, roughly chopped (about 1 cup chopped)

• 1 large avocado (7 1/2 ounces; 213 g), chopped

• 3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered lengthwise into wedges

• 4 ounces (113 g) blue cheese, crumbled (1 cup crumbled)
  
  Directions

1. In a blender, process red wine vinegar, shallot, Dijon, honey, salt, and pepper on high until smooth, about 20 seconds. With machine running, slowly add oil in a steady stream until emulsified, about 1 minute. Pour vinaigrette into a bowl; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, toss lettuce with 1/2 cup of prepared vinaigrette, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl or platter.

3. In now-empty large bowl, toss chicken with 2 tablespoons vinaigrette until evenly coated.

4. Arrange dressed chicken over dressed lettuce. In now-empty bowl, toss cherry tomatoes and 2 tablespoons vinaigrette, and decoratively arrange over lettuce. Top salad with bacon, avocado, eggs, and blue cheese. Serve with remaining 1/2 cup vinaigrette for drizzling over top.

Special Equipment 

Blender

Make-Ahead and Storage 

The dressing can be made ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Briefly whisk or shake in a tightly sealed jar to recombine before using.

The lettuce, poached chicken, tomatoes, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, and blue cheese can all be prepared ahead and refrigerated in separate airtight containers for up to 2 days before assembling the salad.

NOTES: Laurie and I made this for a Core Team meeting. Easy. Fancy. Everyone can choose what they like.

The dressing emulsifies well and lasts a long time in the fridge.