Best Cowgirl Salad Recipes

Cowboy Chopped Salad image

Provided by Ree Drummond : Food Network

Time 16m

Yield 4 to 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 23

12 slices bacon, chopped
Vegetable oil, for frying
4 corn tortillas, cut into strips
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, as needed
Kosher salt
1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into chunks and sliced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 bunch scallions, sliced
1 pound Cheddar, grated
Pico de gallo, store-bought or homemade, recipe follows, for topping
12 Roma tomatoes (slightly underripe is fine)
3 yellow or red onions
2 cups fresh cilantro leaves
1 to 2 jalapenos, plus more if needed
1 lime
Salt

Steps:

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 some pico de gallo, the tortilla strips and the reserved cheese, then serve.
Dice up equal quantities of the tomatoes and onions. Roughly chop the cilantro. Now slice 1 or 2 jalapenos in half. With a spoon, scrape out the seeds. (If you like things spicy, leave in some of the white membranes.) Dice the jalapenos very finely; you want a hint of heat and jalapeno flavor, but you don't want to cause any fires. Now dump these 4 ingredients into a bowl.
Slice the lime in half and squeeze the juice from one half into the bowl. Sprinkle with salt and stir together until combined. Be sure to taste the pico de gallo and adjust the seasonings, adding salt, lime juice or more diced jalapeno as needed. Yield: 8 servings

Cowgirl Salad image

Provided by Susan Cutler

Categories Salads

Time 20m

Number Of Ingredients 7

3 ears of fresh corn, cooked or uncooked (if sweet, use uncooked)
6 c torn, romaine lettuce
1 can(s) (19 fl. ounces) black beans, rinsed
2 c halved, cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 c thinly, sliced red onions
1 c kraft habanero heat shredded cheese, i used habanero garlic in cheese block and grated my own
1/2 c pure kraft refrigerated ranch dressing or dry ranch dressing mix

Steps:

1. Cut kernels from corn ears.
2. COVER platter with lettuce; top with layers of beans, tomatoes, corn, onions and cheese
3. DRIZZLE with dressing. I left my salad plain without the dressing and let everyone add their own. That way you can put leftovers in the refrigerator after and it won't become soggy. DIRECTIONS FOR DRESSING: 1 1/2 Tablespoons dry Ranch Mix 1/2 Cup Mayonaise 1/2 Cup Milk Refrigerate for several hours-plan ahead. Firstly it needs to thicken, secondly it needs to get cold.
4. SPECIAL EXTRA: Garnish with 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro before serving
5. HINTS: I did not cook my corn and used it raw in the salad. It was delicious! I don't like really spicy so I opted to use Habanero Cheese in a block form with Garlic and shredded my own. You actually can add as much or as little of any of the vegetables. It is a very unforgiving salad!