Cobb Salad

Inspired by L.A.'s Legendary Restaurants by George Geary

The idea of a Cobb Salad, like a Caesar Salad, is to have all the ingredients in the right proportions so one doesn't stand out too much from the others once the salad ingredients are all mixed together. If your chicken breasts are large, you may just need one. And the chicken breasts are thick, you might want to slice them in half horizontally once cooked, i.e.; lay them flat on a cutting board and cut them in half, crosswise across the equator, so you've got two flat pieces of chicken from one breast. To cook the chicken, fill a saucepan with enough salted water so it'll cover the cover the chicken. Bring it to a boil, add the chicken breast, cover, remove from heat and let stand for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. You can peek inside by piercing it with a knife to check for doneness. To hard-cook eggs, bring a pot of water to a boil. Slide in the room temperature eggs and reduce the heat to a low boil. Cook for 9 minutes, remove the eggs from the water, and drop them into a bowl of ice water, to cool them down. To cook the bacon, put the strips between two paper towels on a microwave-safe plate and cook for six minutes in the microwave, or as instructed by the package. You can also cook them in a skillet, if you'd like. If you don't eat pork, swap out turkey bacon. Some like to use peeled, diced fresh tomatoes. I went with cherry tomatoes since the quality and flavor of them is usually better, except in full-on tomato season. To use fresh tomatoes, you can use a tomato peeler, or cut a small x in the bottom of 3 medium tomatoes. Drop them into a pot of boiling water for about 10 seconds (or until the skin loosens away from the flesh), then transfer them to a bowl of iced water to "shock" the tomatoes, which encourages the skins to slip off.

Servings main course-size servings

For the Cobb Salad

1 head romain or iceberg lettuce, or a mix of both, chopped
1/2 head watercress, chopped
1 1/2 cups (210g) quartered cherry tomatoes
2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced (see headnote)
6 strips bacon, crumbled
3 hard-cooked eggs, diced
1 large ripe avocado, diced
4 ounces (115g) crumbled Roquefort or blue cheese
2 tablespoons minced chives
freshly ground black pepper

For the French dressing

1/3 cup (80ml) red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small clove of garlic, cut into pieces
1/2 cup (125ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup (125ml) canola oil, (or another neutral-tasting oil)

For the salad

Spread the chopped lettuce and watercress in the bottom of a wooden salad bowl or a large platter.
Arrange the tomatoes, chicken, bacon, eggs, avocado, blue cheese, in rows across the top of the lettuce. Sprinkle chives over the top and add a few good turns of black pepper.

For the dressing

In the bowl of a food processor, or blender, combine the vinegar, water, Worchestershire sauce, mustard, lemon juice, pepper, salt and garlic. Process or blend the ingredients.
With the food processor or blender running, add the olive and canola oils in a slow, steady stream, so they make an emulsion.
Toss the salad with approximately 3/4 to 1 cup (180 - 250ml) of the dressing. Leftover dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for up to one week.