Chopped Cobb Salad with Blue Cheese

Week 436. Year 9. Tommy is 42. Summer heat. The kind that makes the attic work brutal and the evening grill essential and the cold beer a medical necessity. Rémy (13) in school, cooking and fishing. Fishing trips continue — the bayou, the marsh, the same water that Joey fished and that Rémy fishes now with the same cast and the same patience and the different hands that hold the same rod.

Made smoked chicken this week — the kind of food that fills the house with the smell of Louisiana and the knowledge that whoever walks through the door is walking into a home where the stove is on and the food is ready and the welcome is unconditional. The meal was the day. The day was the meal. Both were good. The bayou runs on.

The chicken had been on the smoker all afternoon, doing its slow, patient work the way the bayou does everything — unhurried, deliberate, filling the air with something you can’t quite name but immediately recognize as home. A meal like that deserves a side with some weight to it, something cool and sharp to cut through the smoke and the heat. This chopped Cobb salad with blue cheese was exactly that — bold enough to hold its own, simple enough to come together while the chicken rested, and the kind of thing that looks like you planned it all along.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped
4 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large avocado, diced
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup cooked corn kernels (grilled or roasted preferred)
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
Salt and black pepper to taste
For the dressing:
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook the bacon. In a skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp, about 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and let cool, then crumble into bite-size pieces.
Hard-boil the eggs. Place eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, remove from heat, and let sit 10 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath, peel, and chop.
Make the dressing. Whisk together red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking until emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Prep the vegetables. Chop the romaine into bite-size pieces. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Dice the avocado. Thinly slice the red onion.
Assemble the salad. Spread the chopped romaine across a large platter or wide bowl. Arrange the bacon, eggs, tomatoes, avocado, corn, and red onion in rows or sections across the top — classic Cobb style.
Add the blue cheese. Scatter the blue cheese crumbles generously over the top. Season the entire salad lightly with salt and black pepper.
Dress and serve. Drizzle the dressing over the salad just before serving, or serve it on the side so everyone can dress their own. Toss lightly or serve as-is for a clean presentation.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chopped Cobb Salad with Blue Cheese — The Side That Earned Its Place at the Bayou Table