RhodeyGirl’s Cobb Salad
The menu had classic cobb salads.
Cobb salad you say? May I have it with no bacon, no chicken, no bleu cheese, sub nuts and feta?
….Is it no longer a cobb salad, or is it just a cobb salad improved?
The salad stunk. At the restaurant.
My version at home? Literally perfection. Probably the best salad I have ever had in my life. And that is me being conservative in my self praise. I may have said it out loud three or four times.
Don’t judge me for self praising. I can’t help it.
If you make it, you too will understand.
But I needed a substitution for bacon! I love bacon. It is salty, crunchy, amazing. I do not like where bacon comes from. So I don’t eat it.
The two suggestions that most intrigued me came from Living on the Vedge and Mango & Tomato with fried beans and smoked nuts respectively. I decided to try a combination of the two, and the result was crunchy, salty, smoky flavor without the oink. In other words, exactly what I wanted.
This cobb salad is the perfect summer meal with protein, healthy fats, and lots of vegetables as well as all the textures and flavors. Crunchy. Creamy. Salty. Sweet. Tangy.
Shall I go on, or do you get the point?
RhodeyGirl’s Cobb Salad
Serves 2
Ingredients:
6 cups assorted lettuces (arugula, romaine, bibb)
1 tomato, diced
1 cucumber, diced
1/2 avocado
3 boiled eggs
4 oz feta cheese
juice from 1 lemon
dash kosher salt
1/4 cup light olive oil
1/4 cup hickory smoked almonds, crushed roughly
1/4 cup cannellini beans
oil for frying
Directions:
1. Heat some oil in a small pan over medium heat. When hot, add the cannellini beans and fry for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt.
2. Whisk the oil into the juice from one lemon. Add 1 oz of the feta and whisk to combine.
3. Place the lettuce in two bowls and toss with the dressing you just made. Mix the roughly crushed almonds and fried cannellini beans. Assemble the salads. Put half of the tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, eggs, and remaining cheese over the dressed salads as well as the almond and bean mixture. Enjoy!
Fried beans and smoked almonds make a great substitution for bacon.
His and Hers salads. PB’s salad also had grilled chicken.
Other salad posts:
I love salads.
Honey Balsamic Salad Dressing
Salad Spring Greens with Grapefruit Avocado Salsa
Shrimp & Bean Barley Salad
Itβs a Salad Pasta
Caprese Barley Salad
24 Responses to “RhodeyGirl’s Cobb Salad”
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The fried beans and smoked almonds sound delicious! Though, there will never be a sub for bacon for me. π Cobb salad is one salad I truly love!
Yum! Those are beautiful salads- I like the his & her’s sizes;)
Your Cobb salad looks delish! You can make bacon with tempeh and they sell fakin’ bacon made out of tempeh. I just bought some, I hope it’s delish!! π
Jenn
I just realized the other day that I have been making the same meals for my bf and myself and he mentioned he might like a little more heartiness to his meals. Ha. I forget that a guy might need to eat a slightly different meal. I’m an awesome gf btw π
@Jill@MySoCalledHealthLife, When I first met my husband and he would visit me for the weekend I would serve him exactly the same food and portions as myself. He lost a lot of weight before I realized I had to give him almost TWICE as much as me!!!! π
Looks fabulous. I really like the addition of the nuts- I enjoy a good crunch in a salad.
Hope you are having a good week so far
That salad looks wonderful! And I love the idea of the fried beans/smoke nuts!
i hate cobb salads! maybe because i used to work at a restaurant and they were so annoying to make. but this i could try! did you fry the beans yourself, or did you buy them?
@allison @ livingoneday, I fried them myself in about 1/2 inch of very light oil. I measured the oil before and after and they only absorbed about 1 tbs!
smoked almonds! What a great idea. Blue Diamond makes a seasoned smoked almond that I could (and have!) inhale by the bagful. Such a good idea to crush and add to a salad.
This sounds like a fantastic salad, grocery shopping today will add this to the list, and I might even throw in some bacon π
Praise away…that looks amazing!
This sounds fantastic! I don’t know about the smoked almonds – did you buy them? I’m sure it would be good with any kind of almonds π Love almonds! And egg!
@Tricia Kuchler, They sell hickory smoked almonds in most markets! You just have to look carefully. I got mine from Whole Foods!! I love almonds too! And egg!
Oooh, Sabrina, that looks delicious! *sigh* Wish they sold your kind of salads at the airport/restaurants! I’ll have to try it without the almonds though because of braces. π
P.s. What kind of camera do you have? I love the quality of your pics – any tips for a newbie food blogger?
@Raewyn, Thanks! I have the Canon Rebel xsi, but to be honest, I still don’t know how to use it. I just put my plated dishes in the window, take a picture with the most steady hand I have, and hope for the best! Sorry I can’t help you more!!!
WOW, my mouth is watering! i with i had a good sub for bacon, but i don’t…i just eat the bacon π i love the thought of fried beans though!
Beans + almonds is such a clever sub for bacon. Although I dont think Id want to get in the habit of subbing anything for bacon!
Hickory smoked almonds??? Genius Sabrina! Seriously, what a great idea! You have complete bragging rights for this one. I can’t wait to try it π
Cobb salad from (most) restaurants always looks kinda gross with all the heavy toppings. I like your upgrade.
Fried beans? What? Love it! So creative. Love the salad too… sounds delicious!
can’t wait to try this combo! looks amazing π
Just made this salad for dinner…pure genius! LOVED it and the BF did too π Thanks for a healthy alternative to bacon!