Have you tried to get the family to eat more salad but never seem to get enough of the crunchy goodness in your diet? Or perhaps, you have kids like mine whose food vocabulary does not include the word “salad”. Well, with today’s easy recipe idea and tip, salad eating could become a possibility in your household.
A few years ago, I was happily eating a big bowl of salad for lunch when my daughter approached me and said: “Mom, the whole idea that a salad has to have green stuff is ridiculous. I mean, I like a lot of the things in this big bowl, but I don’t like the green stuff!”
I nicely said to her that typically a big green salad includes spinach, lettuce, or kale; and that it serves as the “bed” to put all the toppings. But you know what? She was right. She already liked most of the things I was putting in the salad bowl, just not the leafy greens.
So while the idea of a “salad bar” isn’t new -I mean, they have entire restaurant concepts built around salad bars!- the idea to create a build-your-own salad bar at home was, at least, it was for us.
So it began. I created a salad bar night every month, usually followed by a fun dessert, where I filled small bowls with all sorts of colorful things, always making sure each kid has a couple of items they will eat.
As you can see in the video below, you can make this as simple or complicated as you want; always changing up the salad theme and toppings for the night.
My kids know I have one rule: you must choose three (3) different items from the selection, cheese being considered a 4th option.
I like to make salad bar night at the beginning of the week, that way, I can make individual salads in containers for the week for my office lunches. I believe that every meal counts both nutritionally and in preparation as well!
Today’s recipe is for my Cobb Salad bar because Cobb salad is one of my favorite salad recipes; so much so, that I have turned it into a pizza, and even a Cobb Salad dip that you can bring to parties or enjoy with some extra veggies!
PrintCobb Salad Bar
Even the pickiest of eaters will find something to eat in this Cobb Salad Bar idea!
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 romaine lettuce hearts, chopped
- 1 cup ham, chopped
- 1 cup chicken, chopped (about 1 breast) (optional)
- ½ cup blue cheese crumbles (or cheddar)
- 6 strips bacon, cooked crispy and chopped
- 4 hard boiled eggs
- 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- Dressing: your choice of blue cheese or ranch
Instructions
- Assemble everything bar style on a table. Kids get to build their cobb salads. The key is to have the lettuce chopped like slaw or give the option to not use lettuce at all for kids.
Melissa
I have 2 pick eater at home. Try to add veggies is challenging. Last night I served this cobb salad bar that has some of their favorite things (I mean, who doesn’t love bacon, right?) and they also added some “green” stuff on their plates. Laura, you made this mom super happy! Thank you!
★★★★★