Edible Alphabet is a free English Language Learning (ELL) program offered by the Free Library's Culinary Literacy Center. The mission is to teach English language and literacy skills through hands-on cooking projects. While Free Library locations remain closed to the public in the interest of public health and safety, we will be sharing weekly recipes from our class curriculum and past participants.  

This week, I’m sharing a class favorite from Edible Alphabet’s US American Recipes workbook: Vegetarian Cobb Salad. This recipe serves 4-6 as a main course, so feel free to scale up or down depending on how many people you are cooking for. You are also welcome to add grilled chicken and / or crispy bacon to your salad for a more traditional take on the classic, but I find this vegetarian version to be a healthy, hearty, ideal meal for a summer lunch or dinner.

For more inspiration on vegetarian cooking, you can find e-cookbooks through our catalog, as well as Digital Media databases like Overdrive, Hoopla, and Freading. I’m particularly excited to try out the recipes from Bryant Terry’s Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes after hearing him speak at the Free Library last February. 

Happy cooking!

Vegetarian Cobb Salad

Ingredients

• 6 eggs  
• 2 beets  
• 1 pt. grape or cherry tomatoes (or 2 large tomatoes)
• 1 cucumber  
• 2 heads of Bibb (or other) lettuce  
• 2 avocados  
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard  
• 2 ½ Tbsp. Sherry vinegar (substitute white wine vinegar if needed)
• ½ cup olive oil  
• 2 tsp. honey  
• 6 Tbsp. blue cheese  
• Salt  
• Pepper

Instructions

Eggs

1. Add eggs to a pot and cover with water by about 1 inch. 
2. Heat eggs and water over medium-high heat until boiling; then cook for 10 minutes. 
3. Remove eggs from the pot with a slotted spoon and peel eggs under cold water. 
4. Chop hard-boiled eggs and season with salt. 

Beets

1. Boil a fresh pot of water. 
2. Peel and dice beets.
3. Add beets to boiling water for 8-10 minutes (until tender). 
4. Drain beets and season with salt. 

Other Vegetables

1. Cut grape tomatoes in half (or dice large tomatoes into bite-sized pieces)
2. Peel and cube cucumber. 
3. Place tomatoes and cucumbers in two small bowls and season with salt. 
4. Chop lettuce. 
5. Dice avocado. Season with salt. 

Salad Dressing

1. Add the mustard, vinegar, honey, and olive oil to a container with a lid. 
2. Shake to combine. 
3. Season with salt and pepper. 

Cobb Salad

1. Place lettuce on a plate. Drizzle with salad dressing. 
2. Arrange the eggs, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, beets, and blue cheese in rows on top of the lettuce. 

For more information about Edible Alphabet and the Culinary Literacy Center, visit freelibrary.org/cook or email kitchen @ freelibrary.org. Enjoy this recipe? Leave a comment and stay tuned for another Edible Alphabet recipe next week!