The cobb salad of my dreams.
When I look at a menu, few things ignite excitement in my heart the way that fried chicken does. In fact, James has a photo of me from one of the restaurants out east on Long Island that he captioned, “get a girl that looks at you the way she looks at fried chicken”. You get it.
Salad? Not so much. More times than not I think of a million things that could be added to my salad to make it better.
This. Is. Not. The. Case.
This is THE salad. Flavorful fried chicken, herby bright tomato bruschetta, rich avocado, hearty egg, and salty bacon all drizzled with a zesty blue cheese dressing. Someone get a photo of the way I look at this salad.
Make sure you make more of this than you think you’ll need. You might think you need enough for 4 people, but actually, you’ll want enough for 8.
Let’s hit it.
For the chicken you will need:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
3 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons hot sauce of choice (I use sriracha for everything)
3 minced garlic cloves
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
peanut oil
For the bruschetta you will need:
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup chopped basil
4 cloves minced garlic (less if you aren’t garlic obsessed like I am)
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad you will need:
1 head romaine lettuce, ripped
1 head butter lettuce, ripped
2 avocados, sliced and tossed with the juice of half a lemon
1/2 pound chopped cooked bacon
3 or 4 hard boiled eggs, quartered
1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled
For the blue cheese dressing you will need:
1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 lemon, juiced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Start by marinading your chicken.
In a bowl combine the chicken, buttermilk, garlic, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Let this sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours or ideally overnight.
Meanwhile, let’s make the bruschetta and blue cheese dressing.
In a bowl, mix together the tomato bruschetta ingredients. Taste for seasoning: salt is your friend. Set aside at room temperature until ready to serve.
For the blue cheese dressing mix together the blue cheese and buttermilk with a fork until the blue cheese has begun to incorporate with the liquid, with few large chunks remaining. Whisk in the sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust for seasoning. This can also be made the day ahead- the flavor only gets better.
About an hour before cooking, take the chicken out of the fridge to come to room temperature. 20 minutes before serving, add enough peanut oil to come up to the sides of a large cast iron skillet. Heat until the oil reaches about 350-360 degrees.
While the oil is heating, set up your dredging station.
In a shallow wide bowl, mix together the flour and seasonings until combined. Piece by piece take the chicken out of their buttermilk, shake off the excess, and dredge into the seasoned flour.
Fry the chicken in the hot oil, flipping once until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. You’ll know when to flip when the outer edges of the chicken are nicely browned.
While the chicken is frying, assemble your salad.
Lay the bed of lettuce and top with the bruschetta, avocado, hard boiled eggs, bacon, and blue cheese crumbles.
When the chicken comes out of the oil, set on a cooling rack set above a baking sheet lined with foil. Sprinkle immediately with kosher salt.
Slice the chicken, and top your perrrrrfect salad.
Serve with your impressive blue cheese dressing on the side, and get someone ready to capture the moment your eyes lock with this cobb.
::insert heart eye emoji here::