Salad is what I’ve been craving lately… possibly due to the realization that swimsuit season is creeping up. (And I’m trying to lose a few pounds before the wedding lol.) My favorite type of salad is a good chopped salad. I like that everything is fairly bite sized and doesn’t require me to cut through the greens before eating. That said, I’ve enjoyed mixing up salads with whatever I have on hand. Even leftovers get a remake with a bit of greens and a dressing! This BBQ Ranch Chopped Salad had the intention of using leftover BBQ pork… however the leftovers I thought I had were eaten before they made it into the salad. Regardless, a tangy dressing of ranch and BBQ, tossed with some greens were tasty and I highly recommend this for upcoming summer picnic potlucks!
The dressing for this salad is definitely the star. It’s a simple combination of homemade ranch dressing with your choice of either store bought or homemade BBQ sauce. It has a nice creamy kick with a bit of tang, depending on the BBQ sauce you use. Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce is a favorite of ours but any one will do. The dressing can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
The salad itself has the usual suspects found in a southwestern style salad – iceberg and romaine lettuce, sliced red onions, carrots, corn, cheddar cheese… and crushed corn chips! Instead of croutons, I liked the flavor and texture the crushed corn chips bring.
Now had I had the leftover BBQ pork as initially planned, I would have served it on top of the tossed salad. You can also use BBQ chicken or BBQ beef, but even on it’s own, it’s delicious and makes for either a good side dish or entree salad!
Dressing:
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