My Midwestern take on the famed Cobb Salad is a blend of the solid Plains I grew up on and a little of California’s visual verve- a redux of a Midwestern classic, the layered salad. Classic Cobb Salad contains bacon, chicken or turkey, diced tomatoes, avocado, blue cheese, and chopped hardboiled egg, all non-negotiable basic ingredients. The ingredients rest in stripes atop a bed of green chopped lettuce. Layered salad’s base is iceberg lettuce, practically the only lettuce I knew existed until I left the Midwest! In a classic layered salad all the ingredients are placed in layers over the lettuce, preferably in a glass bowl to show off the vibrant colors. Iceberg lettuce has gotten a bad rap lately, but it has quietly made a resurgence with wedge salads and is one of my favorite lettuces to this day, especially on burgers, sandwiches, shredded for tacos, and in this salad. This salad combines the visual appeal of a Cobb salad with the classic ingredients of a layered salad. The dressing is a creamy dairy-based recipe with a little sharpness from the onion that is a lovely complement to the salad. The salad can be assembled in about 15 minutes if you have already prepped hardboiled eggs and lettuce. It is great dinner option when the summer heat hits and you don’t want to turn on the oven. To wit:

Two heads of iceberg lettuce, washed, dried and cut into medium pieces

Two beefsteak tomatoes, diced

1 cup peas (frozen is fine)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

4 hardboiled eggs, diced

5 strips bacon, cooked crisp and chopped into small pieces

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

salt and pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp champagne vinegar

2 tsp grated onion

milk to thin to desired consistency