Cobb Chicken Salad Two Ways Food

ROAST CHICKEN COBB SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange 2 racks evenly spaced in the oven.
• Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on one sheet pan. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, rub the tops completely with olive oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until a meat thermometer registers 140 degrees. Cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones, and cut the chicken in 1-inch dice.
• At the same time, place a baking rack on the second sheet pan and lay the bacon out on the rack in one layer. Roast the bacon for 20 to 25 minutes in the same oven with the chicken, until browned and cooked. Set the bacon aside, until cool enough to handle and cut in large dice.
• Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette: Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, salt, and pepper in a measuring cup and set aside.
• Cut the avocados in half, remove the seeds, and peel. Cut into 1-inch dice, toss with the lemon juice, and set aside.
• Place the chicken and tomatoes in a large serving bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and enough vinaigrette to moisten. Toss well. Add the avocados, bacon, Stilton, arugula, and additional vinaigrette and toss carefully. Serve at room temperature.

GRILLED CHICKEN COBB SALAD

Steps:

• Heat a grill pan or nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Coat chicken breasts with 2 teaspoons oil, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Wash hands. Grill or pan-fry chicken 6 to 7 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes.
• In a small pot, cover eggs with cold water. Place over high heat and bring water to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Set a timer for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, cool eggs under cold running water. Peel and chop.
• Brown chopped bacon in a skillet over medium high heat. Drain bacon on paper towels.
• Chop 3 hearts of romaine lettuce and place in a large serving platter or salad bowl. Dress chopped lettuce with the juice of 1 1/2 lemons. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil over lettuce. Season greens with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Toss diced avocados with juice of remaining 1/2 lemon, to retard browning.
• Halve chicken breasts and chop the meat.
• To serve, arrange rows of chopped chicken, chopped hard boiled egg, crisp bacon bits, diced avocado, diced tomato, chopped red onion and shredded cheese on top of either 4 individual portions of dressed romaine or 1 large serving platter.

CHICKEN COBB SANDWICH

Steps:

• For the vinaigrette: Whisk together the vinegar, mustard and honey in a medium bowl. Add the garlic, oregano, parsley and thyme. Whisk to combine. Slowly add the olive oil, whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer half of the vinaigrette to a liquid measuring cup, leaving the other half of the vinaigrette in the bowl.
• For the Cobb sandwich: Place the chicken in the bowl with the vinaigrette. Turn to coat. Marinate, refrigerated, 2 to 4 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Heat a grill or grill pan for cooking at medium-high heat.
• Take the chicken breasts out of the marinade and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Grill until charred and the center registers 165 degrees F, 6 to 7 minutes per side.
• Meanwhile, lay the pancetta slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until crispy, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Make the tomato spread: Add the yogurt to a large bowl. Add the tomato paste, honey, hot sauce as desired and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and whisk together until smooth. Set aside until ready to use.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Crack an egg into a small bowl, then carefully slide it into the skillet. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Cover the skillet with a lid and let cook until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny, 2 to 4 minutes.
• Heat another large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush the potato rolls with the melted butter and place buttered-side down in the hot skillet to toast until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Thinly slice the iceberg and place in a large bowl. Toss the iceberg with the reserved Italian vinaigrette. Thinly slice the avocado and set aside.
• Place the chicken on the bottoms of the toasted buns, then top with the dressed iceberg, pancetta, avocado slices and a sunny-side up egg. Schmear the tomato spread on the bun tops followed by a light sprinkling of blue cheese crumbles. Close the sandwiches and cut if desired to peep that sweet, sweet cross section.

BBQ CHICKEN COBB SALAD

Steps:

• Marinate chicken in bbq sauce for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Remove from marinade and grill each thigh for 6 to 7 minutes on each side or until cooked through.
• Mix all ingredients for dressing, and season with salt and pepper.
• Arrange lettuce on 4 plates, top each plate with a chicken thigh. Garnish with blue cheese, avocado, onion and tomato. Drizzle with the buttermilk dressing.
• In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and sweat the onion and garlic until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer 20 minutes.
• Puree the mixture in a food processor, pour into a bowl, and let cool at room temperature. May be refrigerated up to 1 week or frozen.

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH COBB SALAD

Steps:

• Pound the chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap with a mallet or heavy skillet until 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Transfer to a large bowl and add the onion, 3/4 cup buttermilk, the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
• Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat, turning, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain; reserve the drippings for the dressing. Chop the bacon.
• Fill a small bowl with ice water. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add the eggs and cook 4 minutes, then transfer 1 egg to the ice water using a slotted spoon. Continue cooking the remaining 2 eggs until hard-boiled, 6 more minutes; drain and let cool.
• Make the dressing: Remove the 4-minute egg from the ice water and carefully peel (it will be soft); transfer to a blender. Add the vegetable oil, reserved bacon drippings, remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk, the vinegar, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper and blend until smooth and slightly thick, about 1 minute. Refrigerate while you cook the chicken, at least 15 minutes.
• Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium high. Lightly brush with vegetable oil. Drain the chicken and onion, discarding the garlic; pat the chicken dry. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Grill the chicken, turning once, until just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Grill the onion, turning occasionally, until tender and lightly charred, about 10 minutes; roughly chop.
• Peel and chop the hard-boiled eggs. Toss the romaine, grilled onion, tomato, avocado, blue cheese and 1/4 cup of the dressing in a large bowl. Divide the chicken among plates and top with the salad; top with the bacon and chopped hard-boiled eggs. Drizzle with the remaining dressing and season with pepper.