Cooking With Kids: Cobb Salad

When you think of cooking with kids, you might shy away from knives, ovens and stoves and maybe just stick to sandwiches. I fully understand why you may follow that tactic and respect your decision. However, when I cook with my girls, I want the opportunity to not only spend quality time with them, but also to teach them new skills that will serve them well in the kitchen (and beyond) for the rest of their lives. It might sound just the slightest bit hokey, but positive cooking experiences early in life can lead to confidence that isn’t confined to just the kitchen.

Saying that, I am very careful especially when it comes to working with knives or being around a hot stove. I start them off with butter knives and after showing them how to handle a paring knife, I monitor every cut they make. My nine year old is still using the butter knife, but my eleven year old is now working with sharper knives and I don’t take my eyes off her. When either of them is near the stove, I constantly remind them the stove is hot, can be dangerous and to be careful. (Disclaimer - This is what I’m doing with my kids but you must decide for yourself if you think your children are capable of handling kitchen knives, kitchen equipment or being around a hot stove.)

So, for a hearty salad meal, I like to make a great Cobb Salad with my daughters. It’s truly an American invention, devised, like so many great recipes, on the fly at the Brown Derby in Los Angeles back in 1937. I’m sure most of you have had at least a variation on this salad: cooked chicken, mixed greens, avocado, hard-cooked eggs and bacon, all dressed with a simple vinaigrette.

The great thing about the Cobb Salad is that there are so many preparation techniques that the more difficult tasks could be left to older children while younger children will still have plenty to do to help. Before I go into all the different skills, let’s take a quick look at the recipe.

Cobb Salad
Serves 4

½ head Romaine lettuce
½ head Boston lettuce
1 small bunch frisee (curly endive)
½ bunch watercress (remove tough stems)
6 slices bacon
2 ripe avocados
(juice of one lime)
1 whole skinless, boneless chicken breast (about 12 oz.)
1 tomato
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Vinaigrette

1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
1-2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
2/3 cup light olive oil
4 oz. Roquefort cheese

Okay, so here is our ingredient list. It doesn’t really seem too daunting. Now, let’s look at the skills that are needed to actually put this salad together:

Tearing/rinsing/spinning lettuce
Cooking bacon
Cutting/pitting/cubing avocados
Cooking/cooling/dicing chicken breast
Seeding/dicing tomatoes
Hard cooking/peeling/separating eggs
Mincing chives
Volume measurements
Whisking/emulsifying

According to the age and skill level of the child or children you’re cooking with, you might want to perform some of these tasks (cooking bacon, poaching chicken breast) beforehand. You might also decide that your kids are up to learning and performing all of these tasks, and that’s great, too. The most important thing is to be relaxed. If it’s going to be more stressful on you to watch your child use a chef knife to mince chives, just go ahead and do that part yourself.

Now, here’s how the salad comes together.

Salad Prep

1. Rinse and spin all the lettuces. Tear it all into bite-sized pieces.
2. Cook the bacon until crisp. Let cool on paper towels, and then crumble. (Warning: bacon spatters when cooking so pay extra attention if you let your kids cook the bacon or do it yourself. An alternative is to use the microwave. It does a pretty good job without the splatter.)
3. Halve, pit and cube the avocado. Toss with the lime juice to inhibit browning.
4. Poach, cool and dice the chicken breast.
5. Halve, seed then dice the tomato
6. Hard boil, cool and peel the eggs. Finely chop the whites and the yolks separately.

Vinaigrette

1. In a bowl, combine the vinegar, mustard, 1 teaspoon sugar, salt and pepper. Whisk very well to combine.
2. While whisking, slowly add the oil in a thin stream.
3. Stir in the crumbled cheese.
4. Taste, and stir in a bit more sugar, salt or pepper, if necessary.

Assembling the Salad

1. Toss all the greens together and arrange in an even layer on a large platter.
2. Place the crumbled bacon, diced avocado, diced chicken, diced tomato, egg whites, and egg yolks on top of the lettuce. This is where you can have some fun. You can arrange the ingredients in stripes; you can talk about fractions and have your child sprinkle the chicken on “half of the salad;” you can place the ingredients in a checkerboard pattern. The only rule is to place all of the ingredients and try not to have any of the plain greens peeking out. Don’t forget to sprinkle on the chives.
3. Evenly pour the dressing on the salad (you might not use it all).
4. Dig in.

I hope you can see the potential for fun with this salad. There is no reason in the world that you can’t add other ingredients. Tailor it to your family’s tastes. It might not be a traditional Cobb Salad, but if your family likes olives or broccoli, add some. If they like tuna, use that instead of, or in addition to, the chicken. Use goat cheese or even a mild cheddar in place of the Roquefort. Use this as a template for all sorts of composed salad possibilities.

At the end of the day, what we’re looking at is a procedure to a) encourage family time, learning and fun in the kitchen, b) get healthy food into your family, and c) show your kids that making a salad is far from intimidating—just dice up some ingredients, put them on some greens and make a simple vinaigrette.

I hope this Cobb Salad idea encourages you to cook with your kids. I guarantee that everyone will have a great time and that there will be a whole lot of vegetable eating going on!

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