Please tell me it happens to you too! Do you ever get in a salad rut? Where the same ole same ole just won’t fit the bill anymore. Sometimes, the antidote to this problem can be as simple as presentation. Shake it up a bit and go ahead and add more ingredients than you normally would. Take a few extra minutes and fry some bacon. Then present the salad in an artistic manner, set the dinner table and stand back. The ohs and awhs from your family will delight and dinner will be exciting once again.
I like to add the bleu cheese in the middle since not everyone is a fan of the pungent flavor. Your family or guests can pick and choose how they would like to fill their plate. Fun for all and you won’t hear complaints!
Of course you can taylor the ingredients to your own favorites. We have been blessed and I do mean blessed with great neighbors who have become great friends. They are masters at gardening and you won’t find folks with a more generous heart. They have kept our family supplied with picture perfect tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers for the last several weeks. We are reaping the benefits of their green thumbs. The good news is that we are enjoying fresh salads every which way this summer.
Hopefully, you have friends and neighbors who are sharing with you too, or better yet maybe you are a master gardener with a green thumb. If not run to the farmer’s market and think salad. Pick out your favorite produce and enjoy the fun of presenting gorgeous salads at your table.
Midwestern Cobb Salad
2 to 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
1 tomato, seeded and diced
2 to 3 green onions, chopped
1 avocado, removed from skin and diced
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1 cucumber, diced
1/4 to 1/3 cup crumbled Maytag bleu cheese
Ranch or Bleu cheese dressing
Heat the grill or a grill pan. Salt and pepper chicken and grill until cooked through. Slice into thin strips or cubes.
Arrange the greens in a large, shallow salad bowl; toss gently to combine.
Arrange eggs, tomato, green onions, bacon, avocado and cucumber in artistic piles around the center. Place bleu cheese in the center.
Serve with Ranch or Bleu cheese dressing.
Leave a Reply