BROWN DERBY-STYLE COBB SALAD

This salad is not a southern dish, but I want to share this recipe anyway. I make quite a lot of dinner salads during the summer. I was introduced to this salad back in the early 1970s at the original Brown Derby Restaurant on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, California. I even imagined Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy) peeking over the booth where William Holden was having lunch.

I prefer most of the ingredients sliced instead of everything chopped . . . like most Cobb Salads, and this makes a better presentation.

You can easily double the recipe to make four servings.

Dressing

1 T Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 t Dijon mustard
1 t honey or granulated sugar

½ t English dry mustard

1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

Juice of ½ small lemon

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Mix everything together in a small bowl, except the olive oil.

Whisk in the olive oil until well combined.

You can also place the ingredients in a mason jar fitted with a lid and shake.

Salad

Several leaves of mixed salad greens

1 large bunch of watercress or arugula

½ head of Bibb lettuce or other soft lettuce

2 boneless chicken breast halves

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Avocado oil

Maple syrup

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and sliced

4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

4 scallions, thinly sliced

½ cup Roquefort cheese or other blue cheese, crumbled

1 T snipped fresh chives

Brush chicken with a little oil and maple syrup.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Grill on barbecue grill until cooked through. Let cool to room temperature, then slice

Toss greens in a large bowl with a little of the dressing and place equal amounts on 2 plates.

Arrange the rest of the ingredients in sections on top of the lettuces.

Scatter on some crumbled cheese, a few snipped chives, and drizzle with a little more salad dressing.

You will have leftover dressing.

Serves 2