Cooking for One

Cobb Salad for One

by:
March 20, 2019
5
4 Ratings
Photo by Ty Mecham
  • Prep time 10 minutes
  • Cook time 30 minutes
  • Serves 1
Author Notes

I make this epic Cobb salad for myself when I'm feeling a little extra, hungry but not quite able to pick out exactly what I want to eat among the various food groups. It's of great comfort to me, then, knowing that I don't have to pick; I can have the chicken, the eggs, and the bacon. Better yet, each will be perfectly cooked and balanced and deliberately composed in relation to the rest. Cobb salad is exactly what I want to eat when I want to eat absolutely everything. —Eric Kim

Test Kitchen Notes

Featured in: The Epic Cobb Salad I Make for Myself When I Want It All. —The Editors

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Ingredients
  • 3 to 4 slices bacon, cut in half
  • 1 bone-in, skin-on chicken thigh
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 head radicchio, cut into quarters so you're left with triangles (or however the heck you want to do it)
  • 1 tablespoon malt vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 ounce blue cheese, chunked, at room temperature
  • 1 handful cherry or Campari tomatoes, cut in half
  • 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
  • 1 large organic egg, boiled for 7 to 8 minutes, peeled, then quartered
  • 1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Starting from a cold, oven-safe pan over medium heat, cook the bacon, 8 to 10 minutes, or until crispy on both sides. Remove and set aside.
  3. Season the chicken thigh with salt and pepper on both sides, then sear, skin-side down, in the bacon fat, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn chicken over, transfer pan to the oven, and roast for 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside to cool slightly, then carve into bite-size pieces.
  4. Lay the radicchio in one even layer on the largest plate you’ve got. Sprinkle over the malt vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper. (Sometimes I do a pinch of sugar to offset the bitterness.)
  5. Assemble the salad: In six color-blocked compartments over the radicchio, arrange the bacon, chicken, blue cheese, tomatoes, avocado, and egg so the plate is bulging with FOOD. Season the tomatoes, avocado, and egg with salt and pepper, then garnish the entire plate with chives.

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Eric Kim was the Table for One columnist at Food52. He is currently working on his first cookbook, KOREAN AMERICAN, to be published by Clarkson Potter in 2022. His favorite writers are William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway, but his hero is Nigella Lawson. You can find his bylines at The New York Times, where he works now as a writer. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @ericjoonho.

4 Reviews

FrugalCat September 11, 2023
Really love the cooking of the chicken thigh in the bacon fat.
Cathy M. March 23, 2019
The avocado isn’t mentioned in the ingredients?
Eric K. March 23, 2019
Hi, thanks for flagging! The recipe has been updated.
Granny S. April 9, 2020
Eric, this salad looks wonderful! Not only is it beautiful, but tasty and like you said, when you're not sure what your're hungry for, this covers it all. Plus, the dressing is light. Thanks so much for sharing this yummy recipe with all of us!