Go Green like Rachel

Jennifer Aniston’s Cobb salad, which she ate for 10 years on the sets of Friends, is taking over the Internet. A chef tells us how to rustle up a summer-friendly version

Through the course of the 10-year-long production of the iconic TV show Friends, we eagerly looked forward to Jennifer Aniston aka Rachel Green’s ever-fashionable looks, as she grew up from a daddy’s girl-and-runaway-bride to a successful professional and a single mother. What didn’t change in all those years, we recently learnt, was Aniston’s on-set lunch — a Cobb salad. An old interview of Courtney Cox, Aniston’s on-screen best friend, revealed that the latter stuck to the same lunch, which she “doctored up with turkey bacon and garbanzo beans”. 

With the interview resurfacing, food bloggers on Instagram and TikTok are sharing various versions of the Rachel Green salad. Maya Pereira Sawant, chef, celebrity nutritionist and founder of Lean Kitchen by Maya, tells us that Cobb salad is fresh, versatile and great for the summers. She shares with us an Indian version. “Since we have a spicy, chatpata desi palate, I thought why not make this salad easily accessible. The chicken is marinated in an Indian base, and turmeric can be added due to its health benefits,” she adds.

Healthy Indian Cobb salad

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes, SERVES: 6 people

Ingredients
. 1 head of romaine lettuce cut into 1” pieces
. 1 head of iceberg lettuce cut into 1” pieces
. 2 diced tomatoes
. 1 large avocado, peeled, seeded and diced
. 1 large onion (pickled would be great) cut into thin rings 
. 30 gm crisp cooked bacon, chopped (take out excess oil)
. 250 gm large cooked chicken breast (marinate in chilli/garlic/ginger paste with lemon, salt and pepper for at least 30 minutes)
. 3 to 4 shelled and quartered hard-boiled eggs
. ½ cup crumbled feta cheese or blue cheese (optional)
For the turmeric Cobb salad dressing
. 30 ml white wine vinegar 
. 1 tbsp mustard sauce 
. 1 tbsp lemon juice 
. 1 tsp honey 
. 4 tbsp olive oil 
. 1 tsp salt 
. 1/2 tsp black pepper 
. 1 tsp turmeric

Maya Pereira Sawant

Method
Wash the lettuce leaves thoroughly and remove as much water as possible. Combine both kinds of lettuce in a bowl and mix well. Grill the marinated chicken in a pan adding olive oil, for three to four minutes on each side, and pop it in the oven for 12 minutes at 180 to 190 degree Celsius. Let it cool; cut in cubes or strips. Add tomatoes, onion, avocado, bacon, chicken, hard-boiled eggs, and feta cheese to a salad bowl. Serve alongside the turmeric Cobb salad dressing, and garnish with mint leaves.

452kcal
Calories

38g
Protein

10g
Carbohydrates

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