Southern Cobb Salad with Sweet Onion Dressing

We’re in for a long dry spell this week.

Temperatures are about to soar into the upper 90’s and there’s not a lick of rain in the forecast. The humidity will be through the roof, too, making temperatures feel more like they’re in the 100’s.

It’s definitely the dog days of summer right now. I’m ready for fall to be here and the hot weather to be in the rearview mirror.

In the meantime, I’m busy making salads so I don’t lose my sanity in the kitchen. If it’s hot outside, it’s going to be hot in my kitchen while cooking. I try to keep the stovetop/oven cooking to a minimum these days.

One thing is for sure: nothing beats a big ol’ cobb salad on these hot summer days.

Throw in whatever you like; a cobb salad is designed to be customized. As long as you have plenty of meat, cheese and extra toppings, you can’t really go wrong with a cobb.

I made this with all the classic Southern summer toppings: fresh cherry tomatoes, garden-grown cucumber, corn, bacon, and pecans. I didn’t want to use lunch meat so I quickly boiled up a chicken breast and used that instead. Top this salad with shredded cheddar and you’ve got yourself a mighty fine cobb salad.

The dressing really stole the show here. It’s sweet—but not too sweet. It pairs perfectly with all of the ingredients in the salad.

Enjoy!

Southern Cobb Salad with Sweet Onion Dressing

• Servings: 4-6
• Time: 20 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

A classic Cobb salad with a twist. Summer ingredients include cherry tomatoes, cucumber, corn, and pecans.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 2 cucumbers, diced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 4 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1/2 cup pecan halves
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 ears corn, shucked and corn taken off cob
• 4 cups lettuce, chopped (I used spinach and iceberg)

For the sweet onion dressing:

• 2 Vidalia onions, diced (or other sweet onion variety)
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• salt & pepper
• Juice of 1 lemon

Directions

1. Make the dressing: saute onions on medium-low heat in a little bit of olive oil (1 tablespoon) until browned and tender, about 10-15 minutes. Let cool slightly.
2. In a blender, combine onions, cup of olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. Make the salad: On a bed of lettuce, top with chicken, cucumbers, eggs, tomatoes, bacon, pecans, corn and cheese. Serve with dressing on the side for people to drizzle on as desired.