Want an easy and impressive salad for Valentine’s Day dinner? Try this Cobb salad with peppercorn dressing. Crisp buttercrunch lettuce with mixed greens, buttermilk blue cheese, golden pickled egg, benton’s smoky bacon, pieces, sweet cherry tomatoes, avocado slices and peppercorn dressing creates a salad that pleases the palate! Serve this salad up sassy in a heart shaped bowl or plate with the dressing on the side. Coarse black pepper also adds to the delicious flavor of this salad. Known as the Appalachian Cobb only it is served with smoked cheddar buttermilk dressing. Served with thin sliced organic chicken breast adds to the southern salad.
What I love about this salad is the pickled egg. I know.. yuck… pickled egg? It’s not what you think.. it is not what you see in a grocery store or truck stop.This egg is pickled barely in turmeric and mustard sweet brine, which makes the egg turn bright yellow. The flavor is semi sweet with slight tang of the white vinegar that is in the brine. When you make this linked recipe, don’t leave the eggs in the brine too long they will get darker depending on how much turmeric you add to the recipe. I also added a bit more sugar to make them sweeter and not so tangy. In addition, I used white wine vinegar instead of white distilled vinegar.
How to Make Valentine Cobb Salad with Peppercorn Dressing
In an individual heart shaped bowl, add crisp lettuce leaves and assorted mix. My lettuce is pretty much the buttercrunch as I didn’t want too much color to interfere with the other ingredients in the bowl. On the top left of the bowl I added about 1/4 cup of halved sweet cherry tomatoes. In the center was the smoked bacon pieces, and under the bacon the blue cheese. On the upper right side of the bowl I added the sliced pickled egg and avocado. Note, make the pickled egg one day ahead. They are best eaten within 3 days. Note: Pickled eggs require no canning processes, but you do have to keep them refrigerated.
Peppercorn Dressing: In small bowl, add sour cream, honey, mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, garlic, and sea salt. Whisk together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add buttermilk whisking to blend. Last stir in the fresh grated parmesan cheese and cracked peppercorns. That’s pretty much it. This recipe is also a good base for blue cheese or feta cheese dressing. If you don’t like it sweet omit the honey. Store dressing in refrigerator. Let dressing marinate for 30 minutes before serving for best flavor.
Hope you will try this recipe. Make it a full meal by adding chicken or grilled steak. Serve bread sticks or crusty bread and or course dessert. Layering salads is an easy way to serve it with style and ease.
For Dessert try this Lemon tart. Tap on photo for link to recipe.
Valentine Cobb Salad
Crisp butter-crunch lettuce layered in heart shaped bowl garnished with cherry tomatoes, pickled egg, avocado, smoky bacon, blue cheese with peppercorn parmesan dressing.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: none
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-individual servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Layering
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Salad
4 small heads of buttercrunch, bibb lettuce, or spring mix
1 pint sweet cherry grape tomatoes
8 slices cooked smoky bacon strips, crumbled or chunked in pieces
2 avocados, peeled, cored and sliced for 4 salads
4 yellow pickled eggs, or peeled hard boiled eggs, sliced thin
1/4 pound blue cheese chucks or crumbles
For a meal: add sliced organic chicken breasts, or beef strips
Peppercorn Parmesan Dressing
1/2 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon honey
1–2 teaspoons coarse black peppercorns or assorted peppercorns
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or grey salt
1/4 cup whole buttermilk
Instructions
- Make peppercorn parmesan dressing. In small bowl, add sour cream, mayonnaise, and honey. Whisk to blend.
- Add white wine vinegar, salt, cracked peppercorn, parmesan cheese.
- Add buttermilk, whisk dressing until blended.
- Serve dressing on the side.
Salad
- In serving dish, layer buttercrunch lettuce and lettuce’s in bitesize pieces.
- Half cherry tomatoes to one section of the serving dish.
- Add bacon to center of plate/serving dish. Place blue cheese cubes under or around bacon.
- Add sliced pickled egg to opposite side of plate, with avocado slices near the egg.
- Serve salad with dressing on the side.
Notes
- Make pickled eggs one day ahead, pickled eggs will last up to 3-4 days. Pickled eggs the longer they sit in brine, the darker the yellow the eggs will become, they will also get rubbery the longer they sit. Must be stored in refrigerator, no canning or preservation required. See link.
- Make dressing ahead to save time and to allow to develop flavor.
- Can us crumbled blue cheese or feta, substitute smoky bacon for regular bacon.
Serve with Parker House rolls or crusty bread sticks.
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