Kale Cobb Salad (or How to Turn Easter Eggs into Dinner)

It’s 10:45 on Wednesday night. I’m in bed. The girls are too. If they are not yet asleep, they are puzzling over who will be booted from American Idol tomorrow. My husband is sitting next to me working on something very exciting for DALS that we will tell you all about the week of April 23. (Please make a point to visit that day.) And I’m writing about Cobb Salad. (How exactly did I get here? Please tell me.) I don’t have a whole lot to say about the meal, other than it was assembled between 4:00 and 4:20 (wedged in between a long overdue pediatrician appointment and a soccer practice that was plotting to invade our dinner hour), and that the swap-in of shredded kale for crunchy romaine went largely unnoticed by the girls since it was buried under some favorite flavors (read: bacon), and that it works well for kids because it can be customized like a salad bar, and that it made a dent in our significant stash of hard-boiled Easter eggs, and that I wish my kids would eat eggs as enthusiastically as they decorated them, and that every time I eat it I wonder why I only think to make this the week after Easter.

That’s all.

Kale Cobb Salad

In a bowl, toss together large bunch kale (shredded), 3 pieces bacon (crumbled), 2 tablespoons scallions/red onion/shallots (minced), handful tomatoes (chopped), 2 hard-boiled eggs (chopped), 1/2 cup crumbled blue or feta, 1 avocado (chopped), 1 cup cooked chicken (shredded or chopped) with your favorite dressing or this all-purpose vinaigrette. Set aside any potentially deal-breaking ingredient for the kids — in my house, that would  be the ingredient that inspired the meal to begin with: eggs.

A few other ways to use up hard-boiled eggs! Spring asparagus with chopped egg and onion (serve with crispy chicken or fried fish); sliced hard-boiled eggs on white toast with mayonnaise and chopped chives (Andy’s personal favorite); classic potato salad (if you have an advance copy of my new book, see page 244); Curried Egg Salad SandwichCaesar Salad Deviled EggsSalad Nicoise Sandwich; French meatloaf (page 136 of Time for Dinner)

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13 Comments

Todd

I’m a big kale fan, but I’ve never tried it raw. Is it too tough or fibrous, or does the shredding help it out? The salad looks great, and pretty simple.

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Lori@ In My Kitchen, In My Life

I was sort of sad on Monday to realize we had no hard-cooked eggs to use up. Our youngest is 17 and finally has decided he’s too old to color eggs. I’m still thinking I may cook some eggs on purpose just to be able to make egg salad.

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Cecilia

i am having a “why didn’t i think of that” moment. i have almost all of these ingredients and was going to make a very one-note egg salad for dinner. thank you!!

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carolyn

You read my mind! This is exactly what I planned to make for dinner tonight because we have both 1) leftover hardboiled eggs and 2) leftover grilled chicken. Just one more reason to love you guys. You think like me. 🙂

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Zombiesgirl

I just discovered shredding kale, easier to do than chopping, don’t you love doing it? although I end putting everything else going in the salad in mini processor right after it. Lost a cucumber once, (Became too small)

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Jenny

BK Kitchen – By shred, I guess I just mean chop. I try to use lacinato kale because the stem isn’t as thick and the leaf is more tender, but if not, I just chop a little pile of kale at a time and remove any stems that seem like dealbreakers.

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654carroll

Have you tried the Trader Joe’s bagged kale? I swear by it (and want to make this salad with it). It’s already torn, so you just need to chop it to get it smaller. Also, since you don’t cook it, and it’s tough, you can dress it and then eat it as leftovers and it’s just easier to eat as it ages, but not grosser/soggier. (something i would *never* do with any kind of lettuce.)

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jenny

654 – The kale I used in that picture is indeed the TJoes bagged kale. It’s true — it never gets soggy.

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June2

You can also do “massaged” kale to make it more tender: sprinkled lightly chopped kale with a tiny pinch of salt (or not) and squeeze handfuls of it until it is softly wilted. Is much more edible raw this way and allows you to eat more of it, I find, which is a good thing when it comes to dark leafy green veggies!

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Lucy Remitz

Ha! This is a great idea. I never know what to do with a leftover chocolate Easter bunny. Since I saw this too late I guess I’ll have to wait for next year.

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