Smoked Chicken Cobb Salad with Avocado Dressing
Ingredients
- Avocado dressing:
- ½ cup diced peeled avocado
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 tablespoons water
- Salad:
- 3 center-cut bacon slices
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- 2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 1 cup hickory wood chips
- ⅓ cup unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson)
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 4 cups romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- ⅓ cup diced peeled avocado
- 2 heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- 2 hard-cooked large eggs, chilled and quartered lengthwise
- 1 ½ ounces blue cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- To prepare dressing, combine first 7 ingredients in a mini food processor; process until smooth.
- To prepare salad, cook bacon in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Add canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan; sauté 6 minutes on each side or until done. Cool slightly; shred with 2 forks.
- Pierce 10 holes on one side of the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch disposable aluminum foil pan. Place holes over element on cooktop; place wood chips over holes inside pan. Place a shallow ovenproof bowl on opposite end of pan. Add chicken and stock to bowl. Heat element under holes to medium-high; let stand 1 minute or until chips begin to smoke. Carefully cover pan with foil. Reduce heat to low; smoke chicken 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Drain.
- Combine spinach, romaine, and basil in a large bowl; toss. Arrange 2 cups spinach mixture on each of 4 plates. Divide bacon, chicken, 1/3 cup avocado, tomatoes, eggs, and cheese evenly among plates. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons dressing over each salad.
