Green Goddess Chicken Cobb

A mashup of two California classics! Green Goddess Chicken Cobb features herby, creamy dressing drizzled over a non-traditional Cobb salad. It's fresh, bright, and delicious.

Two California Classics

In this salad, two California classics get married and have a baby. Green Goddess dressing originated in San Francisco in the 1920s. Cobb Salad appeared a decade later in Los Angeles.

Let’s look at a short history of both.

Green Goddess Dressing

The Palace Hotel was San Francisco’s first grand hotel when it opened its doors in the late 19th century. And it was in the hotel kitchen that Green Goddess dressing was first stirred together.

More than 80 percent of San Francisco, including the Palace Hotel, was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and the fires resulting from it. Once rebuilt, the hotel resumed its stature as a luxury hotel that hosted dignitaries, opera stars, and international actors like George Arliss.

Arliss was starring in the play The Green Goddess which was on tour in the U.S. in 1923 after having great success in England. Famous guests of the hotel often had dishes named in their honor, like singer Luisa Tetrazzini who inspired the pasta dish Chicken Tetrazzini. And so it was with George Arliss except the salad dressing wasn’t named for him but for the play. Womp womp.

Regardless, 100 years later the Palace Hotel is still an upscale luxury hotel and the dressing remains on the hotel menu. It is full of fresh herbs, lemon, and garlic resulting in a bright green dressing.

Cobb Salad

Now we head down the coast to Southern California where Cobb Salad originated at The Brown Derby restaurant. Although The Brown Derby was actually a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles with locations in Beverly Hills, Los Feliz, Hollywood, and Wilshire Boulevard, it is the Hollywood branch on North Vine Street that gets the credit for inventing the main dish salad in 1937 that has become an American classic.

Rumors and legends tend to be part of the Hollywood landscape, and stories surrounding The Brown Derby restaurant are no exception. Holding court at the restaurant were movie studio execs, theater owners, and celebrities. It became a place to see and be seen.

The creation of the Cobb Salad has two differing legends attached to it. The first one tells of owner Robert Cobb looking through the restaurant kitchen for a midnight snack. Pulling a little of this, a little of that, he pilfered some bacon from a busy line cook, chopped up the whole shebang, and voila! The Cobb Salad was born.

Another rendition involves the head chef concocting the chopped salad as a way to cheer up Mr. Cobb, who came straight to work after a dental appointment, hungry and irritable (as we all are after dental appointments).

Will we ever know the real story? Probably not.

Looking at an old Brown Derby menu dated September 1953, I had to marvel at the prices. Baja California Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail for $1.50. Derby Lamb Stew with Vegetables and Potatoes was $1.85. A pot of coffee for 25 cents. And Cobb Salad? $2.25. Order a Cobb in any restaurant today and you will pay 10 times that price.

It’s so much cheaper to make it at home, so let’s do that now.

Lessons Learned

• Because chicken breasts can sometimes dry out when grilled, the mayo-based marinade helps keep them moist. Once the salad is assembled, drizzle the reserved portion of the herby dressing over everything.
• Traditionally, Cobbs include bleu cheese and bacon but this one doesn’t. The salad ingredient list is flexible, of course. Leave out what you don’t like or add more of what you do.
• And bread? This Ligurian Focaccia would be so delicious alongside the salad!

Hat Tips

Many thanks to Lillie Eats and Tells for the Green Goddess grilled chicken inspiration.

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