COBB CUPS | Ashley Sperber

It’s been quite some time since I produced a recipe that had meat or dairy in it, but I felt like my vegan streak had a good run. This little creation was invented last summer when I was experimenting with my favorite bacon alternative: duck bacon. Duck bacon is a much safer option to consuming pork products, but uncured turkey bacon without preservatives will also suffice.

I wanted to reinvent the cobb salad because I feel it has a slightly misleading affiliation due it’s high calorie contents laid over a bed of low nutrition iceberg lettuce. Calorie counting is not something I advise, unless they are coming from processed foods which bacon and creamy blue cheese dressing are absolutely guilty of being. In my version, I kept the tomatoes (but made sure they were heirloom), the lettuce (but used romaine), avocado, and then added a slice of raw onion, secured by one slice of heavenly duck bacon, topped with a homemade blue cheese vinaigrette.

*The bacon cups can be made several different ways, such as placing them in a muffin tin, an oven safe ramekin, oven safe ring mold or silicone baking mold. The bacon must be at least 1/8th inch thick in order to securely hold the contents of the cups.

serving size: 6 cups
total time: 30 minutes

6 duck bacon slices
2 free range eggs
1 small yellow or red onion
1 small heirloom tomato
1 avocado
1.5 cup romaine lettuce, roughly chopped

dressing:

1/4 cup roquefort or blue cheese crumbles
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the duck bacon slices into spheres by using one of the aforementioned methods listed above. Place the bacon in the oven for 15 minutes, ensuring not to over cook. Next fill a small saucepan with water and place 2 eggs at the bottom, over medium heat. Once the water has begun to boil, allow the eggs to cook for 8-10 minutes. In the meantime, trim the ends of the onion and then slice 6, 1/4 inch thick rings of onion and set aside. The outermost rings will fit best inside of the cup, due to their smaller size. Next, with a serrated knife, slice 6, 1/4 inch thick pieces of tomato and set aside. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and cut 6, 1/2 inch thick slices, from each half of the avocado. The slices will likely need to be arranged to fit securely in the cup, later on. Remove the hardboiled eggs from the hot water and put them in a bowl with cold water and ice, placing them in the freezer, while preparing the dressing.

In a small bowl, combine blue cheese and apple cider vinegar and allow it to sit for 1-2 minutes. The blue cheese will start to slightly break down due to the acid in the vinegar, which is ideal. Slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking vigorously. Add in salt and pepper to taste and set aside. Remove the bacon from the oven and allow to cool about 5 minutes before handling. Take the hard boiled eggs out of the freezer and carefully remove the shells. Slice the hard boiled egg into 1/4 inch thick pieces and set aside. Layer each cup by using the tomato slice as the base, followed by the onion, avocado, hard boiled egg and a 1/4 cup chopped lettuce, topped with a tablespoon of the blue cheese vinaigrette. Serve a single portion as an appetizer or have two for lunch or dinner!

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