We’ve been working a lot. Yes, we do have a day job, and no, it is not this blog. Our hectic schedule has forced our loving wife to pull more than her fair share of the cooking duties. She is kind and patient and wonderful. Even more, she has been killing it in the kitchen.

Our burdensome workload has an unintended but welcome consequence: we eat much healthier with her at the helm. More greens. More fresh produce. Less red meat. And, our wife has become so creative in developing flavorful recipes that we hardly miss those other foods. We do, though, yearn for bread. She’s currently boycotting carbohydrates, which is a non-starter for us. Sad face emoji.

Anyhow, on a recent weeknight, she concocted this recipe for a summer Cobb salad to take to a dinner with her family. It received rave reviews from everyone there from her mother down to the nieces. They were particularly struck by the dressing, a non-creamy, clean-eating riff on honey mustard. Beyond topping salads, we’ve found a variety of uses for it, including tossed on roasted Brussels sprouts.

Oh hey, and the whole thing is gluten-free. Here’s the recipe.

Summer Cobb Salad

Ingredients

Salad

• One egg, hardboiled
• Four slices of bacon, cut in half
• One ear of corn
• Butter or oil, for corn
• A quarter of a red onion, diced
• One avocado, diced
• 1/2 cup of grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded
• Romaine lettuce, chopped

Dressing

• Two tablespoons of coconut aminos
• Two tablespoons of honey or agave
• Two tablespoons of whole grain mustard seeds
• Two tablespooons of apple cider vinegar

Directions

Place egg in a pot covered with water. Add one teaspoon of vinegar. Cook on high heat until the water reaches a boil. Remove pot from the burner, cover pot and let it sit for 12 minutes. Remove the egg and submerge it into an ice bath, peel shell and cut egg into slices.

Fry the bacon in a pan on medium heat. Once crispy, remove bacon and place on it paper towel to drain the grease.

Remove husk from the ear of corn (if applicable). Coat kernels with butter or oil. Grill on a grill pan over medium high heat. Turn occasionally, grilling on all sides. Slice off kernels.

Place romaine lettuce in the bottom of a large salad bowl. On top of the lettuce, arrange the red onion, avocado, cheddar cheese, egg, bacon and corn in contiguous wedges forming a complete circle, i.e., like a Trivial Pursuit piece.

Mix ingredients for the dressing together, and serve the dressing on the side.

If you are feeling wild, or just in need of additional protein, add grilled chicken.