“Salads are the real definition of ‘eat the rainbow.’”
Healthy Cobb Salad
Salads can be a good way to get your important vitamins, minerals, and fiber. However, not all salads are healthy or nutritious. It depends on what is in the salad. It is okay to add small amounts of dressing and toppings, however, if you overdo it with high-fat or high-sugar add-ins, your salad may cause you to exceed your daily calorie needs and contribute to weight gain. (Source)
This salad is definitely not a side salad; this salad is a meal by itself, albeit a light, healthy one. The traditional Cobb salad is made from chopped iceberg and romaine lettuce topped with rows of cooked chicken or ham, crispy bacon, hard-boiled eggs, chives, avocado, tomatoes, and blue cheese lined in rows and dressed with a tangy red wine vinaigrette. This was the basic framework for my salad but I: (1) allowed the chicken to be a substitute for the ham, (2) reluctantly omitted the crispy bacon, (3) made the chives optional and added chopped fresh portobella mushrooms, (5) the blue cheese is okay but I prefer Feta cheese; everything else remained per the traditional recipe but I did replace the vinaigrette (which is okay) with my recipe for Buttermilk Ranch Dressing.
Just a bit about the history of Cobb Salad… According to the book,“The Brown Derby Restaurant” by Sally Wright Cobb and Mark Willems, the original Cobb salad was the invention of Los Angeles restaurant owner Bob Cobb. In the early 1920s, he started making it at the Brown Derby in Los Angeles for late-night meals with his friends. In 1929, when the Hollywood Brown Derby opened, he put it on the menu. It didn’t take long before the chopped salad with chicken, bacon, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes and avocado became the restaurant’s signature dish.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Place an even layer of shredded iceberg lettuce onto a large platter. While trying to accent their colors, arrange the ham, tomatoes, avocados, eggs and mushrooms in neat rows on top of the lettuce. Squeeze the juice from half a lime over the avocados to prevent them from browning. Season the avocados, tomatoes, and eggs lightly with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the Feta cheese over the contents of the dish.
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Serve the salad immediately with the dressing in a small bowl on the side.
Serving Size 2 cups
Servings 4
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 195kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 11g17%
- Saturated Fat 2g10%
- Cholesterol 123mg41%
- Sodium 560mg24%
- Potassium 389mg12%
- Total Carbohydrate 11g4%
- Dietary Fiber 5g20%
- Sugars 4g
- Protein 15g30%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Note
To prepare this dish ahead of time, I suggest storing the different ingredients in separate containers in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the salad.
One of the best things about this cobb salad recipe is that there are a dozen ways to change and customize it. You can switch up the proteins and, instead of ham, make a chicken cobb salad or a shrimp cobb salad. Additional substitutes and add-on's include: crispy bacon, chives, green or black olives, endless types of cheese, etc., etc.
Never dress a salad in advance Many foods can be made in advance, but salad isn’t one of them. The acidic components of the dressing break down the tender lettuces, making everything a little soggy. Go for it with pasta and potato-based salads, but wait to toss lettuce-based salads until the very last second.