The combination of bacon, lettuce, and tomato shines bright outside of the confines of a sandwich
I love the radical simplicity of a BLT, the way it’s never extra, and how each of its parts is integral to the balance of the whole. When those three core ingredients, the B, L, and T — smoky bacon, fresh lettuce, and juicy-sweet tomatoes — are paired together, they create a galaxy of flavor I want to visit every day of the summer.
But I never needed those three ingredients to be a sandwich, and neither did the BLT. They work together whether they’re in a sandwich, pasta, or salad. I realized this a few summers ago when I put a BLT salad on the menu at San Francisco’s Zuni Café, where I was a sous chef. Despite my best efforts, diners there didn’t come for sandwiches. But when I put the salad on the menu — without even calling it a salad — everyone knew exactly what that list of ingredients was.
This salad — an adaptation of the one I served at Zuni — is inspired by my love of the BLT’s individual ingredients, especially the tomatoes overflowing at every market during the height of summer. In sandwich form, they unfortunately don’t get enough attention, so in my salad, I try to compensate for this neglect by casting them in a starring role.
Usually a BLT sandwich has mayonnaise, which is hardly even acknowledged beyond the ingredients list. That changes with my salad because I think that the creaminess of mayo is integral, like a soft landing for all the other punchy flavors and textures. I call for doctoring store-bought mayo with garlic, lemon, and a little olive oil, but if you’re feeling up for it, I also include a quick guide on how to make your own aioli spread.
I also recognize that without bread or some starchy element there would be a major void in this salad. So instead of having the B here be just for bacon, it also stands for breadcrumbs. After cooking chopped bacon in a pan, I use the rendered bacon fat to toast breadcrumbs, and then toss them with coarsely ground black pepper. Sprinkled on top, they add a crispy, super bacon-y breadcrumb deal for this salad. It’s the best thing to happen to a BLT since — well, sliced bread.
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