Cobb salad with garlic ranch dressing

Me: Any ideas for new foods to try soon?

Husband: How about some salads?

Me: *Stunned silence.*

Those of you who know my sweet husband are aware of his being a, for the most part, meat-and-potatoes kind of guy.

So imagine my surprise at this response.

Granted, I had just served him the heaviest, most artery-clogging (but worth it), delicious salisbury steak the night before.

But, still. …

Salads?

You don’t have to tell me twice!

This cobb salad …

Okay, time-out.

A cobb salad is essentially a bunch of ingredients separated out on top of lettuce. Usually featuring gobs of bacon and eggs.

I totally didn’t know this before.

I thought a cobb salad was a type of salad sort of like chicken salad. Or waldorf salad. Or, maybe I didn’t know what cobb salad was at all.

Okay, time-in.

This is pretty much the best salad ever.

Add to a gorgeous array of toppings the garlic ranch dressing, and you’ve got yourself a delicious little dinner or lunch.

And apparently husband-friendly?

Did any of you see that episode of Modern Family where Claire gets so mad at Phil when she had suggested for months that he try a cobb salad, only to have him try it at a friend’s suggestion?

Then, he manages to completely forget that his wife was the one who suggested it, giving full credit to the friend.

That is so me and Dave with my many, many suggestions that we watch the British masterpiece, Downton Abbey.

Husband: Hey, my friend Sara suggested we watch Downton Abbey! And she has good taste, so we should watch it soon.

Me: @#$^$*%&#$%!#

Igredients: 

For the salad:

• 2-3 heads of Romaine lettuce, finely chopped
• 1/2 pound of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 avacado, pitted peeled and diced
• 1 cucumber, peeled seeded and diced
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 2-4 boiled eggs, chopped
• 4-6 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese

For the garlic ranch dressing:

• 
1 TBS Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing POWDER
• 1 cup of mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Buttermilk
• Splashes of regular milk to make right consistency
• 3-4 cloves fresh garlic (minced)
• Dash of Garlic Powder
• Cayenne to taste (about an 1/8 of a tsp)
• Fresh cracked black pepper (to taste)

Directions:

For the Salad:

Make large bowl of just the lettuce. Organize all salad toppings around a large pie plate (more or less of each ingredient depending on personal preferences). Make individual plates with lettuce, followed by toppings, according to preference. Top with desired amount of dressing and serve.

For the Garlic Ranch: 

Mix all the ingredients together. Feel free to add some milk (maybe 1/4 cup or so) because it is thick with just the buttermilk. Alternatively, you can use 1 cup of mayo and 1 cup of milk.  If possible, allow dressing to set for at least an hour in the fridge.

[Source: Slightly adjusted from the brilliant My Life as a Mrs.]

Enjoy!