Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avocado Sandwich

Today's post is being brought to you as a public service announcement. It is a reminder of the importance of enjoying tomatoes while they are in season. Yes, tomato season here in the Northeast is fleeting and if we don't stop and sink our teeth into those sweet, juicy tomatoes now, it will be a whole year before we'll get another chance. Oh sure, we can buy tomatoes twelve months of the year at the grocery store, but let's face it, those grocery store tomatoes taste more like cardboard than tomatoes.

One of the tastiest, yet simplest, ways to celebrate the tomato is with a BLT. Yes, the lowly bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich is the perfect sandwich for this time of year. After all a BLT without the tomato is well, just a bacon and lettuce sandwich. So friends, if you haven't had a BLT in the past few weeks it is time to have one...today...now...I mean it. Yes, I can be bossy.

My BLT is being kicked up just a tad with the addition of some avocado. If you don't like avocado, go ahead and leave it out, but if you are an avocado fan you'll like your BLT with a few slices of avocado. Trust me on this.

The Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avocado Sandwich

The BLTA Ingredients

Makes one sandwich

2 slices of white sandwich bread
iceberg lettuce
2 thick slices of fresh tomato
2-4 slices of crisp bacon
1/4 of an avocado, sliced
mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Now I know you all can make a sandwich, so I won't go through the step by step instructions. Instead I'll share with you what I do to make this the perfect sandwich for me.

The Five Steps to My Perfect BLTA

1. I cook my bacon in the oven. I find that cooking the bacon in the oven at 425 degrees F for approximately 15 minutes takes the tedium out of preparing bacon. It is pretty much a "set it and forget it" approach. While the bacon is cooking I can be busy getting the rest of the sandwich ingredients ready.

Cook Your Bacon in the Oven

2. I cut my slices of tomato pretty thick and salt and pepper each slice individually. I want my tomatoes to be perfectly seasoned.

Creamy Avocado, Crisp Lettuce, Juicy Tomatoes

3. I use iceberg lettuce. I like the crispy, crunchy texture of iceberg lettuce in this sandwich. Other fancy lettuces just won't do.

4. My avocado must be at the perfect level of ripeness. It gives ever so slightly when I squeeze it. That means the avocado will add sweet, creaminess to the sandwich.

5. Toasting my bread must be perfectly timed so that the bread and the bacon will be warm, while the lettuce, tomatoes and avocado will be cool. That makes for a perfect contrast of warm and cool, crisp versus soft textures and overall deliciousness.

The Perfect BLTA

Whew! Public service announcement is over. I've done my duty. Now it's time for you to make your own BLTA, or just a BLT. You'll be glad you did!

Enjoy!

Comments

RobinSeptember 6, 2011 at 7:59 PM
Love avacado on a sandwich. I use it instead of mayo!!!
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