Cowboy Chopped Salad

By margiekyle

This chopped salad has all of the ingredients and flavors your family loves - ranch, bacon and barbecue!

Ingredients

• 12 slices bacon, chopped
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
• 4 corn tortillas, cut into strips
• BBQ RANCH SALAD DRESSING
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• Buttermilk, as needed, to adjust the consistency
• Hot sauce, to taste
• Kosher salt
• SALAD
• 1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into chunks and sliced
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced
• 1 pound Cheddar cheese, grated
• Pico de gallo, store-bought or homemade, recipe follows, for topping
• PICO DE GALLO
• 12 Roma tomatoes (slightly under ripe is fine)
• 3 yellow or red onions
• 2 cups fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 to 2 jalapenos, plus more if needed
• 1 lime
• Salt

Preparation

Step 1

For the bacon and tortilla strips: Fry the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Add some vegetable oil to the bacon skillet and fry the tortilla strips until crisp, approximately 1 minute. Drain on paper towels.

For the BBQ ranch dressing: In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, barbecue sauce, parsley, chives and garlic. Adjust the consistency with buttermilk to make it a little thinner. Taste and add hot sauce and salt as needed.

For the salad: Put the lettuce, tomatoes, scallions, bacon and most of the cheese into a bowl. Drizzle over the dressing and stir. Scatter over the pico de gallo, tortilla strips and the reserved cheese, then serve.