Bacon Lettuce and Tomato is such a classic combination it’s hard to top such a perfect trio….but who said you can’t try?! You’d think that as we approach mid October my garden would be done for the year, but no! The tomatoes just keep growing and growing.
Needless to say, my hubby and I have been eating a lot of BLT sandwiches lately. They really are delicious, but too much of anything can get boring, so I decided to spruce up our sandwiches. I had just harvested the last of the basil from the garden and came up with this bright and tangy lemon basil spread to replace the regular mayonnaise on a BLT. The zing from the lemon cuts through the fattiness from the bacon and then the basil creeps in behind adding a bright floral note to the finish of the perfect bite. It is really good eats – and this is how I made it 🙂
Necessities:
12 oz bacon (I use uncured bacon, but please feel free to use whatever brand you prefer)
6 – 8 slices wheat bread
2 large tomatoes (garden fresh, if available)
4 large leaves of romaine lettuce
Lemon Basil Mayonnaise
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellman’s made with olive oil, but regular or homemade mayo would be fine)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 Tablespoons tightly packed fresh basil (this recipe will not work with dried basil)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Method:
BLTs are pretty straightforward – cooked bacon, fresh tomatoes, lettuce, done. But cooking bacon can be tricky and messy. That’s why I always bake my bacon. Yes, I said bake.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Carefully lay out the bacon on the baking sheet, like so.
Bake for 20 minutes and your bacon will be perfectly cooked, according to my husband 😉 He likes a softer bacon bite, but if you prefer crispier bacon, go ahead and cook 5-10 minutes longer to you preference. See, isn’t baking bacon awesome?! Less mess and even cooking.
Moving onto the lemon basil mayonnaise. It is pretty basic, but packs a punch with bright flavors. Anytime I am making a spread I use one of my favorite kitchen gadgets, my immersion blender. If you don’t own one, I highly recommend purchasing one; alternatively you can use a blender. Add in the mayonnaise, lemon juice, fresh basil and salt and pulse until fully incorporated. Any unused mayonnaise will keep for about a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Use the leftovers on other sandwiches or to make a quick tuna salad – delish!
Now you are ready to assemble your sandwiches. We prefer toasted wheat bread at our house – that extra crunch from the bread adds really nice texture. Most BLTs have 3 slices of bacon, but I always splurge and use 4 🙂 Depending on how much bacon you decide to use, this recipe will make 3 or 4 sandwiches. So just spread the mayonnaise on both sides of the bread and begin to stack the ingredients.
Another trick is to fold the bacon in half, nothing is worse than having half of your bacon sticking out of your sandwich.
It’s fresh, it’s simple, it’s homemade and it’s doable – so give it a try!
