This tasty spin on cobb salad is topped with flank steak and finished with a blue cheese vinaigrette.
"[John] rarely gets excited about salad, [but] he's so in love with this blue cheese vinaigrette," Rach says. "He literally looks forward to salad and has requested me [to make] this dressing [on] several nights — so now I just make it ahead and leave it in a squirt bottle in the fridge."
- 12 slices meaty smoked bacon
- 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds flat iron or flank steaks, halve lengthwise and across into 4 portions
- 1 teaspoon each kosher salt and coarse black pepper
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- 1 carrot
- 6 scallions
- 2 ribs celery, from heart with leafy tops
- ⅓ seedless cucumber, 2 Persian cucumbers
- ½ pint cherry tomatoes
- About 6 cups chopped romaine or gem Romaine
- 4 hard-boiled eggs (store-bought in pouch), sliced
- Smoked sweet paprika
- About ⅓ to ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- About 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 large clove garlic
- 2 teaspoons superfine sugar
- ¼ cup parsley tops, a handful
- About 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 6 ounces smoked blue or blue cheese
- Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Arrange bacon on a wire rack-lined baking sheet or slotted pan and bake to very crisp, 17 to 18 minutes. Chop into 1-inch pieces.
Bring meat to room temperature and pat dry. Cut into 4 portions and preheat cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Combine rub of salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and red pepper, then season meat on both sides, drizzle with oil and cook 7 to 8 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove to rest.
Fill a medium bowl with ice and cold water. Use a vegetable peeler to curl shaved carrot and add to water to tighten curls. Cut scallions lengthwise, then into 1 inch pieces and soak.
Very thinly slice celery on a bias. Halve the cucumber lengthwise and slice in same shape or in same manner.
Halve cherry tomatoes.
In a large bowl, combine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and celery. Drain carrots and scallions and add to salad.
Place dressing ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to get it going, then process until smooth.
Thinly slice steak against the grain.
Toss salad with dressing. Arrange on platter or plates and top with steak, sliced hard-boiled eggs dressed with smoked paprika, and bacon.
