BLT’s are a summer favorite for so many. We wait for those fresh, plump, tomatoes to generously slice and layer on toasted bread with crisp lettuce, perfectly cooked bacon, and creamy mayonnaise. Mouth-watering just to think about. I was enjoying a BLT just the other day on grilled, homemade bread. Of course the bread was sliced thick. I do not know how to slice homemade bread thin. OK, I do. My brain tells me to slice it thin but my hands ignore the message completely. Every time I eat a BLT. I tell myself a BLT could be made with just a slice or two of bacon. It never works. What’s the point? You need a bite of bacon with every mouthful. So three-quarters of the way through this amazing Bacon, Lettuce, & Tomato Sandwich I was wishing there weren’t so many carbs from the bread, and so much saturated fat from the bacon. The light bulb went off. In my pantry I have a bottle of olive oil that is infused with a smokey bacon flavor. I found it at a specialty food store (It can also be ordered online.) and hadn’t tried it — yet. Hmmm. The BLT Salad came to be and oh my it is so dang packed with flavor. You get every taste reward from the BLT Salad as you do from a BLT sandwich but with many fewer calories due to less carbs, and less fat. Less nothing else. It’s amazing. The bacon infused olive oil flavors the salad perfectly. You won’t believe you are not eating real bacon. Different, fresh, healthy. A taste treat you deserve.
For 2 dinner salads you will need:
6 cups crispy lettuce (I bought a bag of iceberg salad mix to make this even easier!)
2 medium tomatoes, cored and seeded, cut into wedges
1/4 cup diced green onions, tops and all
2 tablespoons bacon infused olive oil (You can use extra virgin olive oil and add a few drops of bacon flavoring.)
1/3 cup fat-free or light mayonnaise mixed with 2 tbsp fat-free milk
Optional: 1/2 cup salad croutons and 2 tbsp bacon bits. (Use bacon bits from real bacon or imitation bacon bits.)
Divide the lettuce onto two salad plates. Set aside. In a pan on medium heat, heat the bacon infused olive oil until just warm. Stir in the onions. Stir continuously and cook two minutes. Stir in the tomato wedges and heat an additional minute. Remove from heat. Divide the onion and tomato mix evenly over the two lettuce portions.Season with salt and pepper as you like. Drizzle the mayonnaise mixture over the salads. Top with croutons and bacon bits if you like and indulge without extra calories and carbohydrates! So simple and just plain delicious.
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