Name: Chopped Cobb Salad
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup crumbled blue cheese; 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil; 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar; Salt and pepper; 8 slices bacon , chopped; 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 12 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch pieces; 3 romaine hearts , chopped; 1 pint cherry tomatoes , halved; 2 ripe avocados , pitted, skinned, and chopped; 3 large hard-cooked eggs , peeled and quartered

Why This Recipe Works

Our Chopped Cobb Salad recipe comes together quickly with an easy vinaigrette and flavorful ingredients. One of the first keys was how to treat the eggs: We didn’t boil them. After countless tests, the test kitchen found it best to cover the eggs with an inch of water, bring to a boil, cover, and remove from the heat. After 10 minutes, we drained the eggs and cooled them in ice water. The gentle heat perfectly cooked the eggs—not a chance of the green tinge or unpleasant smell. Avocados are at their creamy best when they are purple-black (not green) and yield slightly when gently squeezed. For our Chopped Cobb Salad recipe, we avoided avocados that were overly mushy or bruised or flat in spots or had skin that seemed loose. For maximum flavor, we cubed the raw chicken and sautéed it in the rendered bacon fat. To ensure blue cheese flavor in every bite of the Cobb salad, we pureed half of the cheese right into the vinaigrette.

Before You Begin

Use our quick and foolproof recipe for hard-cooked eggs.

Instructions

Process 1/2 cup cheese, oil, vinegar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in food processor until well combined.

Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate and pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Cook chicken in bacon fat until golden brown and cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to plate and let cool 5 minutes.

Combine lettuce, tomatoes, remaining cheese, cooled chicken, and dressing in large bowl. Top salad with crisp bacon, avocados, and eggs. Serve.