COWBOY CHOPPED SALAD

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