Southwest Chicken Cobb Salad Recipe

Bacon - Place the bacon on the sheet pan and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until as crispy as desired. Flip over once midway through cooking. You can also fry the bacon in a skillet the traditional way on the stove Tips - To save time, use precooked fully cooked bacon and simply zap it in the microwave for 1 minute. Chop the cooked bacon and set aside. You can also add the tortillas to the oven on a separate sheet pan in the last 10 minutes or so the bacon is cooking to save time.

Tortillas - While the bacon is cooking, slice the tortillas into 1/2-inch wide strips, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or foil, evenly drizzle the olive oil over them or spray generously with nonstick cooking spray, optionally sprinkle with a bit of salt, and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until they're lightly crisped. Toss once midway through baking to ensure even cooking. When done, set aside. Tips - Make sure to use corn tortillas, and not flour. And that they're small, street taco sized and not bigger or you'll end up with a lot of extras. If you want to make more, consider my Baked Homemade Tortilla Chips recipe.

Chicken* - If you have leftover chicken, that's the fastest and easiest. Otherwise you can make Poached Chicken, Perfect 20 Minute Oven Baked Chicken, Grilled Honey Barbecue Chicken, or use store bought rotisserie chicken. I like to cube the chicken for this recipe but you can also shred it. Aim for about 1 pound of diced or shredded chicken.

Assembly - To a large serving platter or shallow bowl, add the lettuce, and then top with the all the remaining ingredients (except the dressings) in long rows of ingredients in typical Cobb salad arrangement and fashion. Tips - It doesn't matter how/where you place things on the platter. You can have chicken next to cheese on one side and tomatoes on the other, or in whatever arrangement you like. Although I tend to put the chicken in the middle and add things outward in each direction.

Dressings - You can use a normal or spicy barbecue sauce. Sweet Baby Ray's is my go-to. You can make your own Creamy Buttermilk Ranch Dressing or use your favorite store bought ranch dressing. Add both the barbecue sauce and the ranch, to taste.

Storage - Once dressed, salad is best consumed right away. Undressed salad will keep airtight in the fridge for 2-3 days. If you want to make the salad in advance, consider prepping all the ingredients and storing them in separate airtight containers in the fridge for 24-49 hours before assembling and then dressing the salad at the time of service.