CEimB: Cobb Salad

This weeks CEimB recipe was picked by  Gabi of  The Feast Within blogsite.     It was a web based recipe from Ellie Krieger and can be found here:  Foodnetwork.com

Cobb Salad: Romaine, Baby spinach, Baby arugula, chicken, ham, egg, tomatoes, avocado, feta and cheddar cheese in home made dressing.

Being that there was egg in this salad, that spurred conversation about an old favorite of my father’s:  Bombay Oyster.  A Bombay Oyster is a raw egg dropped into a glass with vinegar and salt and pepper.  Down the hatch it goes.  My response….”Dad – you can keep that recipe to your self“. 

I wasn’t going to participate in CEimB this week but decided..”oh what the hay!”   So I made 3 different salads. Why?  1. I don’t eat meat, hence had to find a sub for the chicken and the ham.  I also prefer not to eat egg yolks.  2.  My mother won’t eat eggs at all nor does she like blue or feta cheese.  3.  Ted and Dad eat everything.

This was going to be really easy, right? 1, 2, 3  and on the table.  Au contrair. 

Mum boiled the eggs earlier in the afternoon.   When I got home, I broiled a hickory ham steak with honey mustard (3 min. per side).  Ted diced the avocado, which was hard.  I think I picked up an unripe avocado.  Even with all that help, this meal seemed to take me F O R E V E R to get onto the table. 

Step 1:  Prepare the dressing.  olive oil, red wine vinegar (I used balsamic), lemon juice, dijon mustard (I used Sweet-hot), worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt and pepper.  I mixed this in a jar instead of a bowl and that way I could just give it a shake and chill until ready to use.

Step 2:  Slice up the ham. Toss away the fat and bone. Slice up the chicken.  Dissect the eggs.  Slice the tomatoes.  Re-dice the avocado (just being picky).  Grate cheddar cheese for Mum and Ted who prefer cheddar over feta. 

Step 3:  Pull apart the romaine lettuce so it was in semi bite size pieces then give it a wash and a whirl in the salad spinner. I added baby spinach and baby arugula because I couldn’t find watercress.

Salad spinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4:  Assemble every ones customized salad.

I added rosemary sticks for some crunch. 

My father's salad - with everything.

My mother's salad: No egg. No Feta.

My Salad with vegetarian turkey breast strips and no egg yolk just the white - a cherry tomato is stuck in the middle.

Ted's Salad: Same as Dad's but on a larger scale.

Everyone was thrilled. We all enjoyed the dressing.  In fact, Ted said he would have liked more dressing for his breakfast in the morning. Considering his usual breakfast is a shake, waffles with peanut butter, and cereal, I was wondering just where that extra dressing would go, but then after asking my father to explain the Bombay Oyster thing, I decided it was best not to ask any more questions.

The three meat eaters loved the ham and chicken.  As I said, the avocado was hard and that was the only disappointment but I’m glad I made this dinner because it was a hit with all four of us.

Thanks to Gabi – super pick!