BLT Summer Salad
SUMMER ISN’T OVER! That’s right, I said it. Here in the south, summer lives on throughout September, and sometimes even October. Heck, we’ve had years where it’s 80 degrees on Christmas Eve. That happened two years ago, and it was wild!
I haven’t had a typical summer. If you don’t follow me on Instagram (go follow me!), you might not know that my husband and I adopted a precious baby boy. I will definitely share more of his story and our adoption story eventually but I’m still processing it for now. The majority of our summer has been spent indoors with our precious newborn baby boy. And we wouldn’t have it any other way! Now that our sweet baby is 3 months old, we’re starting to come out of the newborn fog and we don’t want summer to be over! I know a lot of people consider Labor Day the end of summer, but I say if the veggies are fresh and the temperature is still high, it’s still summer! You can’t force boots on me when it’s 100 degrees outside.
This salad is everything summer is and should be: fresh heirloom tomatoes, spicy-smokey jalapenos, RANCH, and hot flavors with cool textures. Bonus: it’s Whole30 compliant! It is such a quick and easy meal that you will love! It is so easily adaptable to make work for you or your family. If you don’t like spice, leave out the jalapenos. Add cheese if that’s your thing. If you don’t like cooking bacon in the skillet (I recently learned from a friend some people hate cooking bacon- I didn’t know this was a thing), cook it in the microwave. Lay paper towels on a plate, then lay bacon, then more paper towels. I cook for 2 minutes at a time and check them. I like my bacon very crispy! Be careful though, the plate will be hot, hot, HOT!
First, marinate your bacon in Frank’s Hot Sauce. Marinate at least 30 minutes before you will cook it. Cook your bacon on medium low in a cast iron skillet.
While your bacon cooks, blacken your jalapenos over the open flame of your gas stove. You could also use a torch if you’re feeling fancy. You want the jalapenos blackened and crispy all over! After they’ve cooled, scrape the black crust off and chop into coins. Remove seeds and ribs. Chop your beautiful, local heirloom tomatoes. They are really the star of this dish.
If you’re making a wedge salad, cut your lettuce into wedges and layer bacon, tomato, and jalapenos. Pour ranch on top.
If making a chopped salad, chop up your lettuce. Chop up bacon. Mix all ingredients up in a bowl and top with ranch. I use this one.
Enjoy!!
BLT Summer Salad
ingredients:
- 1 package bacon (use Pederson Farms if making Whole30 compliant)
- 2 T Frank's Hot sauce
- 4 jalapeno peppers
- 1 head iceberg lettuce
- 2 T ranch dressing (use Primal Kitchens for Whole30)
- Fresh black pepper to taste
instructions:
- Pour hot sauce on bacon and let marinate at least 30 minutes.
- Fry bacon on medium-low in a cast iron skillet and drain on paper towels.
- While your bacon fries, blacken jalapeños over gas stove open flame. Turn until all sides are blackened. Let cool and then scrape off crust. Chop into coins and remove seeds and ribs.
- Chop lettuce. Combine all ingredients and top with Ranch dressing and fresh black pepper.