I love a BLT. It’s a reliable sandwich, even in a restaurant of unknown quality, a BLT is likely to be pretty good. If you are lucky enough to get a BLT made with great, peak season tomatoes, a BLT can be incredible. But even when the tomatoes are only just ok, a BLT is often better than the sum of it’s parts. Just ok tomatoes can be vastly improved by a small sprinkle of salt before they go into the sandwich, and they are buoyed up by crisp, salty bacon and and soft bread, lightly toasted, ideally slightly tangy sourdough.
I wanted to turn this excellent sandwich into a salad that I would be excited to eat, that is hearty enough to be a sustaining meal, or at least a sustaining side dish. This BLT salad ticks all these boxes. It has a base of tender lettuce and hearty winter greens. It has salty punchiness and a bit of sustaining protein from bacon and parmesan. Sweet, bright tomatoes and golden, buttery, garlicky croutons round it all out.
I normally use cherry or grape tomatoes, which I find are generally pretty good year round from the grocery store. Not always amazing in the middle of winter, but pretty good. If you are underwhelmed by your tomatoes and want to boost their flavour, sweetness and jamminess, you could halve them and roast them with some chunks of garlic and olive oil before adding them to the salad. I sometimes add a bit of grilled chicken to make it even more robust, like a full hearty dinner salad. Also, adding avocado to make a BLAT salad is excellent.
Note: I like to toss all the bread butts or any bread that goes too stale in a bag in the freezer as we go through bread. Then you always have a supply for croutons, panzanellas and bread crumbs.
BLT salad
5 rashers of bacon
lots of butter lettuce, romain, spinach, arugula or kale - in whatever combination you prefer, washed and thoroughly dried
1 big handful parsley, roughly chopped
½ pint cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup shredded parmesan
about 1 cup torn or cubed bread
3 tbs butter
1 clove garlic
dressing
3 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs dijon mustard
¼ cup olive oil
a few shakes worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
Heat oven to 400 F. Lay bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake until crispy, around 10-15 minutes, or to your desired doneness (note: I don’t think this method of cooking baking usually requires turning the bacon over, but if I have especially thick bacon I turn it over halfway through to ensure its evenly crispy). I think bacon should be shatteringly crisp, but cook it how you like it. Let bacon cool on a paper towel or cookie rack over a tray. Drain away the bacon fat and save it to cook something excellent later.
Finely mince or rasp garlic into butter and melt together in a small pan. Toss with the bread cubes and spread out in the bacon pan (use the residual bacon grease!). Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the croutons are golden brown. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, combine greens, parsley, tomatoes, croutons, parmesan and bacon.
Combine dressing ingredients in a small jar and shake to emulsify. Drizzle over the salad and toss to dress evenly. Serve immediately.
