It's Time To Give Your Cobb Salad A Bougie Makeover

Caesar. Waldorf. Cobb. Chef. If those names were listed in a Connections game, you'd immediately know the common thread was salad. If you saw the words romaine lettuce, croutons, eggs, and Parmesan cheese, you'd probably guess, "components in a Caesar salad." You'd likely respond just as quickly to avocado, hard-boiled egg, blue cheese, and chicken with "components in a Cobb salad." That familiarity is one of the key reasons why we love those iconic salads — when you order one, you know what will be on your plate when it arrives. But, just like in Connections, you need to add something unexpected: Add chicken to the Caesar; combine endives with the Waldorf; use salmon instead of tuna in a niçoise. So why not give a bougie twist to a Cobb salad by adding steak and shrimp?

Teaching an old Cobb salad new tricks probably wouldn't have daunted Robert Cobb, who came up with the original recipe. According to the origin story for the salad, the recipe was improvised by its namesake in 1937 at his family restaurant, the Hollywood Brown Derby. He pulled together some ingredients from the restaurant's refrigerator, grabbed some bacon from the stove, added French dressing, and served the dish to his friend, Sid Grauman of Grauman's Chinese Theater. It was Grauman who dubbed the salad "the Cobb."

Adding steak and shrimp to a Cobb salad does bring a little opulence to an otherwise basic salad but without going overboard. It evokes a classic surf and turf combining lobster and filet mignon, but you don't need to use fancy cuts of meat or expensive seafood for the salad. Steaks that are easily sliced — like boneless ribeye, flank, or skirt steak — work best in a Cobb salad, and you can use fresh or frozen medium to large deveined shrimp.

The best way to prepare the steak and shrimp for the salad is to grill them or sear them in a pan. If you plan on serving the salad to guests, you can cook the meat and seafood ahead of time, hard boil the eggs, crumble the blue cheese and prepare the dressing. Just hold off chopping the avocado until a short time before serving so you don't have to worry about it oxidizing.

Although French dressing is the classic way to dress a Cobb salad, with shrimp and steak you can go for something richer, like a buttermilk ranch. If you want more bougie flair and an even creamier taste, add some creme fraiche to your favorite ranch recipe.

If you aren't a steak lover, you can still give your Cobb salad an upgrade with a flaky fish like salmon. You can use canned salmon, but fresh will give a more elegant touch. Instead of chopping up the avocado, use it to make a Green Goddess dressing. Sprinkle in some roasted corn right off the cob, and you'll give your salad a summer feel. You can make your salad even more "extra" by trying Ina Garten's decadent twist on a Cobb made with steamed lobster and a mustard and lemon vinaigrette. She also swaps out the iceberg lettuce for something with more bite: arugula.

Turning your Cobb salad into a surf and turf special doesn't have to be an everyday switch. Even though National Surf and Turf Day is on February 29, which means it only comes around every four years, you don't have to wait to make this dish your quiet luxury. Invite some friends over and make any day deluxe.