Okay, I'll probably get slammed for saying this, but I'm not the biggest fan of bacon. Do I need it in my morning hash or burger? Not really. But there is one sandwich where bacon is crucial: the BLT. I rarely order this sandwich but when I do, I can honestly say that I enjoy every bite. The combination of salty bacon with sweet tomatoes, creamy mayo, and crisp lettuce just sends me over the edge. Since I like the sandwich even though I'm not a huge bacon fan, I figured I would enjoy a BLT salad. And you know what? I was right. Crispy bacon tossed with heirloom tomatoes, butter lettuce, avocado, and a bright dill mustard vinaigrette was everything I needed.
BLT Salad
Ingredients
Croutons
- 2 cups white bread torn into bite-size pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
Salad ingredients
- 12 ounces bacon
- 3 medium tomatoes sliced
- 8 cups butter lettuce
- 2 avocados sliced
- ¼ cup radish thinly sliced
Dill mustard vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tablespoon dill
- 2 tablespoon dijon mustard
- ⅓ cup white wine vinegar
- ½ cup olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Toss together the torn white bread with olive oil, garlic salt, and dried parsley. Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until toasted, stirring halfway through the cooking point. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a wire rack on top and lay the bacon slices on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.
- Make the salad dressing. Blend together the garlic with dill, dijon mustard and white wine vinegar. Slowly add the olive oil while the blender is running to emulsify the vinegar and oil. Season with salt and pepper.
- Assemble the salads. Portion 2 cups butter lettuce per plate, followed by the bacon, tomatoes, avocado, radish, and croutons. Drizzle dill mustard vinaigrette on top and serve.
**Helpful tips and common mistakes
This BLT salad is very easy to put together and many of the components can be made beforehand. Cook the bacon, make the salad dressing, bake the croutons, and you're pretty much done with the preparations.
With summer quickly approaching, it only seemed appropriate that heirloom tomatoes be added to the salad. I love heirloom tomatoes because they are sweeter and juicer than Roma tomatoes or better boy tomatoes, but you can use any type of tomato for this salad.
Whenever I make croutons, I use my hands to tear the pieces for a more rustic look. Toss the bread with olive oil, garlic salt, and dried parsley and bake until toasted, crunchy and golden brown. Keep the oven on and bake the bacon next. You can also cook the bacon on the stovetop but whenever I bake it, it comes out perfectly crispy every time. The trick to making crispy bacon is to lay the strips on a wire rack. That way the fat will drip to the bottom of the pan while the bacon cooks. To make clean up easier, line the baking sheet with aluminum foil.
The dill mustard vinaigrette is one of those vinaigrettes that I wished I made sooner. I'm a sucker for a mustard vinaigrette but add white wine vinegar and fresh dill and it's game over. It's a very simple vinaigrette but the flavors play together so well with each other and with the salad.
Toss the BLT salad with thinly sliced radish, avocado, tomatoes, croutons, and the dill mustard vinaigrette. I'm not sure if it's the salad dressing, the bacon, or just everything put together but I thoroughly enjoyed this lunch. It may not exactly be the healthiest option because of the bacon, but you're still getting vegetables so that makes it okay, right?
For more summer salad inspiration check out this Greek chicken cobb!
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