BLT Salad

Well, the good news is that I was able to stand up at the kitchen counter long enough to make one of our favorite summertime salads yesterday. So, my broken bone is still healing well. I'm glad, because I've truly missed cooking. Albeit, I only stood up for about 10 minutes, but that's longer than I've been able to do previously!

So, what is it about bacon that is so darned good? It's that crispy porky piggy flavor, naturally! As with most people, especially those of us trying to watch calories and fat, bacon became a treat, a once-in-awhile kind of treat at least 20 years ago. But I miss it. However, I've found that a little bit goes a long way. Of course, we know that, right? But when a recipe calls for 3 strips, I use 1. I've used turkey bacon and it's okay. I probably should use it always, but I'd rather have less of the real thing and get more of the real flavor. But, what do you do with a big package of bacon when you only need 1 slice? Here's one of Carolyn's tips coming your way. Once I open a package of bacon, I remove the slices I'm using for that meal, then the remaining ones are separated and rolled up, placed on a metal tray - raw - frozen, then the rolls are popped into a Ziploc bag and stored in the freezer. Then, when I need one slice, it's easy to pull out just one. Here's a photo of the bacon rolls currently residing in my freezer.

The photo looks blurry, but it's the vapor in the Ziploc bag you're viewing. Because bacon is mostly fat, it defrosts in a jiffy. And with these little bacon rolls if I really only want a half a slice, a sharp chef's knife will easily cut that one roll in half. If you cut it lengthwise, it's already cut into pieces. But you can chop it a bit more, easily enough.

I do want to talk a bit about bacon itself. I used to buy grocery store bacon. And for some, it may be all that you can afford. I understand - I've been there too. But I've never liked all the tinkering our food manufacturers do with our foods, so I try to avoid chemicals whenever it's feasible. Now that trichinosis is a thing of the past, we needn't worry about acquiring the disease from uncooked pork. So we don't need the nitrates and nitrites so commonly part of the curing process in bacon and other pork products. I avoid them whenever possible. And it's easy to do so if you have a source for Niman Ranch bacon. It's smoked, but uncured. Our Trader Joe's carries it nearly all the time. It's without preservatives, and has a gorgeous taste. It's thick-sliced too, which I prefer. There's a photo of the bacon above - it is a smaller package - 12 ounces I think, rather than a pound. That's to make it a bit more affordable, I'm certain. But I use so little of it, a package will last me months and months once it's in my cute little frozen rolls.

So now, the salad. The recipe for this was published in our local newspaper, The Orange County Register, in 1994. I clipped that little gem out and made it with some home grown tomatoes we had from our garden. It was absolutely fantastic, and I've been making it regularly ever since. I added the basil and the croutons to the original recipe. You can eliminate the croutons if you're watching carbs, but I enjoy the crunchiness of just a few of them. Add as much or as little of the bacon as you see fit. The recipe calls for more than I use, and we're content with it. Certainly you need good, flavorful tomatoes. But even in the dead of winter Trader Joe's and Costco both carry a variety of on-the-vine type that are quite good. So you can really have this year around.

I searched around on the internet today to just see what kind of recipes are out there for BLT Salad. What's unique about this one is the use of rice wine vinegar. It adds a lovely sparkle to the dressing. You can use low-fat or fat free mayo if you want, and it doesn't really make any difference in the taste. Normally I would say nothing but Best Foods (Hellman's) will do, but since the mayo is diluted, there's no appreciable change in the taste. What a great summertime treat. It was delicious for lunch.

BLT Salad (Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato Salad)
Recipe: adapted from the Orange County Register, 1994
Servings: 4
1/2 cup mayonnaise -- fat-free or low fat are fine
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 head iceberg lettuce -- or mix Romaine and iceberg
4 whole tomatoes -- fresh only
1/2 pound bacon -- meaty slices only
1 1/2 cups bread cubes
2 tbsp fresh basil -- minced
1. Allow bread cubes to stale slightly at room temperature, or you may toast them in the oven briefly. You don't want to have real soft bread, as it will absorb too much dressing and get soggy.
2. In small pan sauté bacon until thoroughly brown and crisp; drain on paper towels and set aside. Break bacon into small pieces when cool. It is best to do this just before serving as bacon won't stay crisp more than about 30 minutes.
3. In a small bowl combine mayonnaise and rice vinegar and stir (or shake in a small bottle) until thoroughly combined.
4. In a large salad bowl chop lettuce, add chopped tomatoes, basil and bread cubes. Add dressing, toss, arrange on serving plates and sprinkle bacon pieces on top.
NOTES : This salad is deceptively easy and delicious. I use half the bacon, but then I always use thick-sliced and it's very meaty bacon. Tomatoes need to be very ripe, so this is a salad I prepare mostly in the summertime. The basil and bread cubes are an addition I've made over the years.
Per Serving: 605 Calories; 52g Fat (76.0% calories from fat); 21g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 58mg Cholesterol; 1176mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 6 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates. To view a printable recipe, click on the title at top.