With a light, creamy herb yogurt dressing, spring vegetables and bacon (of course!), this Spring Cobb Salad is a fresh twist on the classic.
Happy Saturday weekenders! I hope the sun is shining and you are finding your way to some fun / relaxing things this weekend.
May feels like it’s slipping by in a whirlwind of family activities and yard work. The outside to-do list this year is huge, but it’s entirely our own doing. We’ve built a not-so-small container garden on our back porch.
It’s one part hobby, two parts attempt to eat hyper-local and three parts elaborate strategy to get our kids to eat more vegetables.
But like any first time gardener, I’ve become completely enamored with the act of putting seeds in the soil and later pulling out things we can eat. And not just any old things. Incredibly crisp, buttery lettuce and sharp, tangy radishes have already made an appearance in large quantities. Carrots are dragging their feet but starting to come in and spring peas appeared like magic on the vines overnight this week. There are pole beans climbing and tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings newly transplanted and reaching up towards the sun.
So like most spring gardeners, salads have become our jam. We’ve tried countless versions, but this one is the current favorite. Like any Cobb worth it’s salt, it’s loaded with bacon, avocados and hard-boiled eggs. Seasonal veggies make up the rest, and just about anything works here. We kept it simple with carrots and radishes for crunch and color.
And Molly and Clara? They’re good helpers in the garden, but digging in the dirt’s got nothing on the salad spinner. They LOVE the salad spinner. They’ll do almost anything to take a turn at it. It’s my latest parenting secret.
Creamy Herb Yogurt Dressing
The light, creamy dressing that tops this salad has been getting rave reviews all around. The flavor is fresh and tangy, but in additional to being delicious, you can put virtually any combination of fresh herbs in it. We’ve yet to find a combination that we didn’t like, but my favorite is just to grab a handful of basil, chives and parsley. No precise measurements necessary, but I’ve put some in the recipe below to serve as a guide.
The rest of the dressing is just Greek yogurt, lemon zest and a bit of mustard, honey and garlic powder.
It’s not a heavy dressing, but it holds up to a hearty salad like this one. We also keep it around for dipping crackers and vegetable sticks.
Molly and Clara dip banana chips in it. #toddlers
- 1½ Tbsp Mixed Chopped Herbs (I like basil, chives and parsley)
- ⅓ cup Light Plain Greek Yogurt
- ¼ tsp Lemon Zest
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- ½ tsp Honey
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 Eggs
- 4 strips Bacon
- 4 Radishes, thinly sliced
- 6 oz Carrots, very thinly sliced (I used a mix of small, rainbow carrots)
- ½ Avocado, sliced
- 1 Tbsp chopped Chives, for garnish (opt)
- 4 oz Lettuce, leaves torn (use a crisp variety - I like butterhead here, but romaine will work)
- Make dressing (up to 2 days in advance): Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Taste and season with a pinch of salt (this will bring out the other flavors). Note: I often wait until there is about ⅓ cup of yogurt left in the bottom of the container and then add all the other ingredients and blend it right in there. Just pop the lid right back on the container to store in the fridge. This dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days and tastes even better after being refrigerated.
- Place eggs in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. When water boils, remove pan from heat and cover with a lid. Let eggs rest, covered for 10 minutes. Rinse under cold water, peel and slice in half (or chop them into small pieces if you prefer).
- While eggs boil, cook bacon in a skillet until crisp. Set aside on a paper-towel lined plate. crumble when cool.
- Slice radishes, carrots, avocado and chives (if using). (Squeeze a little lemon juice over the avocado to prevent browning if not using it right away.)
- Assemble salads by topping greens with eggs, bacon, radishes, carrots, avocado and chives. Drizzle dressing over top (you may not need all of it).
Once more with the salad spinner Clara!
I am not surprised at their banana chip dipping. My 4 year old has dipped pretty much EVERYTHING into ranch dressing. Including semi-normal things like crackers and pretzels, to super weird things like grapes and PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
I can’t say I totally blame them. Truth be told, I’d probably dip everything in ranch too if it was an acceptable adult move!
That recipe is wonderful. A light salad but still enough nutrients for you to operate. This dish is extremely useful for a person who wants to lose weight like me.