It’s almost April and the weather will have to warm up sooner or later. My mind is already beginning to wander to a repertoire of lighter fare. Simple meals, quickly prepared, promise a new sense of freedom in the kitchen. For a change of pace at dinner time, I often like to sit down with a good bowl of soup, served with bread and cheese. I also love to dig into a hearty salad. Classic Cobb, one of my all-time favorites, is more of a study in composition, than cooking–what the French call, “salade composée.”
This salad is a glorious combo of great ingredients. I prefer to use turkey here–such a nice change from the incessant chicken–and this roasted breast is not only easy to prepare, it’s juicy and delicious. Combine warm meat with buttery avocado, crunchy cucumber, tangy cherry tomatoes, hard-cooked eggs, crispy bacon, creamy blue cheese– it’ll make every tastebud in your mouth sing. What’s not to love.
Turkey Cobb Salad
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a 2 pound skin-on, boneless turkey breast half by rubbing the skin with olive oil and liberally seasoning with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast the turkey for 45 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reads 165 degrees. The skin should be golden and crispy. Place on a cutting board and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes, loosely tented with foil.
Besides the turkey, only a couple of components need to be cooked. Hard boil 2 eggs: place eggs in a small saucepan and cover with water. Quickly bring to a full boil over medium high heat. Turn off flame, cover the pan, and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse immediately under lots of running cool water. When cool enough to handle, peel and chop the eggs. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add 4 thick cut slices of bacon. Cook, turning once, until bacon is cooked through. Drain slices on paper towel and then crumble.
Separate a head of Boston lettuce into individual leaves. Rinse and spin dry in a salad spinner. Dice 2 avocados–use the tip of a knife to score the avocado into squares, then scoop out chunks with a soup spoon. Dice 2 to 3 kirby cucumbers (I like them because they’re crispy and have less seeds); halve a pint of cherry or grape tomatoes; finely chop 5 or 6 scallions. Crumble 6 ounces of blue cheese–I like to use Maytag blue because it’s creamy and not too pungent.
Make a Sherry Lemon Vinaigrette: push 1 to 2 garlic cloves through a garlic press into a mixing bowl or pyrex cup. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar, 1 teaspoon dijon mustard, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil until dressing is emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Lay out the components of the salad in sections on a large platter, so that people can combine them to their liking (plus, it looks pretty!). Slice, then dice the turkey breast and serve alongside the rest of the salad. Pass the vinaigrette. This salad will feed 4 generously…and gratifyingly.
Serves 4:
2 pound skin-on, boneless turkey breast half
olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
4 thick cut bacon slices
head of Boston lettuce
2 ripe avocados
2 to 3 kirby cucumbers
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
5 or 6 scallions
6 ounces blue cheese, preferably Maytag
Sherry Lemon Vinaigrette:
1 to 2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
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