Maggie Monday: BLT Bread Salad

Since I have started to blog, there are a number of recipes that appeared on my menu quite often that have all but disappeared. One is the simple, yet quite delicious BLT. I like the variation that Maggie shares with us below….

This recipe came across my Recipe of the Day from cooks.com. Anything that has the word Bacon or BLT will always save it from my delete button. I was excited about this one due to the nod to the yummy bread salads I’ve had in Italy, and never been able to make quite as well as they do over there. This one was worth a try.

The original recipe called for tofu. I do not like tofu, so thought that avocado would be a perfect replacement. Avocado is perfect, period, so this was an easy swap for my palate! I also substituted olive oil for canola oil. I also increased the amount of bacon. Come one. No brainer.

I did really like this salad. It was pretty, and tasty. However, the bread really ended up being croutons, and was not like the bread salad (papa il pomodora) that I so love. That’s ok. It was a good BLT salad!

I will say that for a salad, this was a little more prep work than I normally allow for a weeknight dinner. I’d make this for guests or a special meal, but it is not your every day “I think I’ll toss together a cool salad” salad.

However, it is well worth the effort. I think it would not be good with the Tofu. Plus, why tofu with bacon? Not sure about that one!

BLT Bread Salad

What you need:

4 cups of cubed rustic white bread (about 4- ¾ inch slices)

1 ripe avocado

2 Tb olive oil

1 Tb champagne or white wine vinegar

¼ cup  fresh basil leaves, julienned

½ shallot, chopped

kosher salt

black pepper

6 slices bacon, chopped

1 head butter lettuce torn into bite size pieces

1 cup red cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup tiny yellow pear tomatoes, halved

What you do:

Preheat oven to 250. Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet and toast for about 15 minutes, until dry. In a blender or food processor combine the avocado, basil leaves, olive oil, vinegar, and shallot. Puree until very smooth. Add salt and pepper and reserve.

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Transfer to paper towel to drain. I a large bowl toss the bread cubes with the bacon, lettuce and tomatoes. Add the basil avocado dressing and toss until evenly coated. Serve.