How To Make Perfect Cobb Salad

August6

Cobb Salad Mama's High Strung

It has been a little cooler than normal around here, so all the fresh summer veggies I crave have been a bit delayed in making their usual appearance at my farmers market.

But that hasn’t stopped me from whipping up my favorite salad of all time: Cobb Salad inspired by the Hotel Bel-Air’s Cobb Salad in Los Angeles.

What’s not to love about this protein-packed totally indulgent salad? Eggs, avocados, tomatoes, roasted chicken, onion, bacon and blue cheese all in pretty little rows on top of mounds of crisp lettuce. Toss it with a little homemade herb vinaigrette and you’ve got a beautiful (and substantial) meal!

That’s a lot of ingredients, I know, but here’s an easy way to remember what to include:

EAT COBB

E is for egg… A is for Avocados… T is for tomatoes… ah, you get the picture.

Most recipes call for iceberg lettuce but I use romaine lettuce instead because that’s what they use at that fancy-do Hollywood hotel where I learned how to make perfect Cobb Salad!

My Dexas Kitchen Tools really helped pull this recipe together easily!

Featured on BlogHer.com

 

Cobb Salad Mama's High Strung

 

Want more great salad ideas? Here are a few:

Crunchy Bacon and Broccoli Salad 

Old School Wedge Salad

Sriracha Potato Salad


How to Pick The Perfect Potato For A Recipe

August14

Shelly asks: I used regular baking potatoes for my potato salad and they basically turned into mush. Are certain potatoes better for certain recipes?

Most of us learn the hard way (or I should say the mush way?) that you can’t use the same type of potato for every recipe. But you should still use the same criteria when you go about selecting potatoes for whatever you’re making:

1. Potatoes should be smooth and they should all be about the same shape and size so they’ll cook evenly.
2. Pass up potatoes that have bad spots, wrinkled skins, cuts, bruises or green coloring.
3. Store fresh potatoes in a cool, dark place… NOT the refrigerator.

Each variety of potato has a “best way” to cook it. Here’s some guidance on how to pick the perfect potato for your particular recipe:

Russet
Bake, mash, French fry, roast

 Red
Boil, steam, roast, sauté, soups, salads, scalloped and au gratin 

 White
Boil, steam mash, French fry, roast, soups, salads, au gratin

Yellow
Mash, steam, bake, boil, roast, French Fry 

Blue/Purple
Boil, steam, bake 

 Fingerling
 Boil, bake, steam

We tend to think of potatoes as villains when it comes to healthy eating. Potatoes aren’t the bad guys, it’s the oil they’re fried in or the sour cream and cheese that they’re topped with… and that has less to do with the potato and more to do with the person eating it!

Potatoes are rich in vitamin C and potassium and loaded with soluble and insoluble fiber (which keeps the digestive tract working and slows down digestion so you feel full longer). A medium baked potato only has 161 calories!

Tomorrow, a yummy delish recipe for your next picnic: All-American Potato Salad (hey, summer’s not over yet!)

(A big shout out to my pals at the United States Potato Board and the Washington State Potato Commission!)

Hi…
I’m Christina Chavez

I was a TV journalist for many years, but with a house full of kids I decided to come off the road, go to culinary school and follow my passion for cooking. Mama’s High Strung is all about food… everything from creative recipe ideas to some really cool kitchen gadgets and cooking tips. I live in Chicago, but I love to travel and write about my food discoveries! You can reach me by email: mamashighstrung@gmail.com