Cobb Salad

This salad contains two of Owen’s favorite foods — chicken and avocado — both of which he skillfully demanded from everyone’s plates at the shore this weekend, the little bugger.

Hats off to our friend, Gail Monaghan, for the inspiration here. We’ve always admired the salads Gail crafts in her in-home culinary classes — delicious, multi-component affairs that never fail to surprise and delight. Her recent article on the origins of this classic American salad inspired us to give it a try at the beach with the ingredients we already had on hand. The results, though not entirely faithful to the original, were immensely satisfying.

Method:

1 head romaine lettuce

1 head Boston bibb lettuce

1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, torn

1 pint cherry tomatoes, some halved, some quartered

1/2 red onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 scallions, sliced on the diagonal

2 chicken breasts, grilled and cut into cubes

12 strips cooked bacon, crumbled

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved

1 avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled

dressing (method below), to taste

Wash, spin dry and and tear by hand the lettuces. Place in a large salad bowl. Hit the bowl with the parsley, tomatoes, red onion, scallions, chicken, bacon, eggs, avocado and cheese. Toss with just enough dressing to moisten and season with a bit of coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

For the dressing:

½ c. red-wine vinegar

¼ tsp. honey

Juice of ½ lemon, freshly squeezed

½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp. Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, peeled, chopped, and smashed into a paste with the side of a knife and a bit of coarse salt

1 c. extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients except the oil. Slowly whisk in the oil until combined and set aside. Taste and adjust the seasonings.