One of my favorite warm weather meals is a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. What really sends the sandwich over the top is making it with a home grown tomato fresh from the garden.
We aren’t far from those tomatoes, and in the meantime, I search for the ripest ones on the stem in the grocery store. I think they are the most flavorful when you can’t get garden tomatoes.
The recipe I am sharing today isn’t for a sandwich but it has similar flavors, minus the bread. The recipe for BLT Pasta Salad is very simple to put together but it relies on good ingredients.
You want to make this with lean bacon cooked until crisp, ripe tomatoes and crunchy lettuce to send this salad over the top.
I made the dressing for this salad but you don’t have to. The original recipe called for preparing the ranch-style dressing using a dressing seasoning packet. I am sure you could also substitute a favorite prepared bottled dressing.
The ranch dressing that I made is so simple to prepare because it has a base of prepared mayonnaise, sour cream and buttermilk. You just whisk those ingredients together and then add the herbs, spices and seasoning. It is so much fresher than anything you can purchase at the store.
Word of warning here — the vegetables will get soggy after sitting in the salad. If you aren’t able to eat all the salad in one sitting, you may want to consider storing the vegetables in separate containers and stirring them in as you eat it.
Also if you have fresh herbs in your garden, this dressing is a great place to use them. Keep in mind that dried herbs have a more concentrated flavor so the rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs for every teaspoon of dried herbs.
BLT Pasta Salad
12-ounce package of bacon, cooked until crisp and broken into bite-sized pieces
1 16-ounce box of short shape pasta such as macaroni, shells or rotini
2 ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks or a pint of grape tomatoes, washed and halved
2 cups thinly sliced romaine lettuce
1 bunch of green onions, sliced
Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and rinse it with cold water. Allow it to drain well before adding it to the salad bowl. Add the tomatoes, lettuce, bacon pieces and onions.
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream and buttermilk. Add the dill weed, parsley, chives, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and whisk. Add the lemon juice and whisk again.
Pour the prepared dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Chill before serving.
June 08, 2021 at 01:41AM
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Cooking with Dianne: Summer sandwich flavors come together in a pasta salad - Clearfield Progress
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