3 The Eating Well Cobb Salad

I came across this salad on Meet the Sullivans and immediately could not wait to try it! 

I made this last night after a VERY long day! I started the day with soccer tryouts and ended it with Crossfit. . . . but the in between part of the day was the most "prayerful" time. Our school district announced their cuts yesterday. I am so proud to work for Spring Branch ISD and greatly respect our Superintendent. Our school district only made one round of cuts, which were made yesterday. 350 positions (about 7%  of employees) were cut. Roughly 70% of the eliminated positions were in non-teaching areas; about 30% of eliminated positions were in teaching. This is what I am so proud of. . . We did not have different rounds of cuts, we cut as few classroom teachers as possible, and our superintendent made decisions based on what is best for kids. Thankfully not ONE classroom teacher was cut from our school. We are blessed but I am praying for all those who lost their jobs yesterday. 

 This salad took a little longer to prepare than I had anticipated. . . I was just wanting to throw some "salad" items onto a plate and then just sit on the couch and watch "The Biggest Loser" with Nate. . . but the time it took to make the salad was WELL worth it! :-) Delicious! Nate did not like the dressing and used Balsamic Vinaigrette instead and, of course, his salad didn't have blue cheese on it! Other than that, he thought it was a great dinner!

3 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons finely minced shallot
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I didn't have Dijon mustard and used Creole Mustard)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
10 cups mixed salad greens
8 ounces shredded cooked chicken breast, (about 1 large breast half; see Tip)
2 large eggs, hard-boiled (see Tip), peeled and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 large cucumber, seeded and sliced
1 avocado, diced
2 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese, (optional)

Whisk vinegar, shallot, mustard, pepper and salt in a small bowl to combine. Whisk in oil until combined. Place salad greens in a large bowl. Add half of the dressing and toss to coat. Divide the greens among 4 plates. Arrange equal portions of chicken, egg, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, bacon and blue cheese (if using) on top of the lettuce. Drizzle the salads with the remaining dressing.

• Tips: To poach chicken breasts, place boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a medium skillet or saucepan and add lightly salted water to cover; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 10 to 15 minutes. To shred the chicken, use two forks to pull it apart into long shreds.
• To hard-boil eggs, place in a single layer in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook at the barest simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, pour out hot water and fill the pan with a mixture of cold water and ice cubes; let stand until the eggs are completely cooled.

Per serving: 4 servings: 346 calories; 23 g fat; 8 g fiber;
Eating Well