Kicked-Up BLTs

BLTs are one of my favorite summer foods. Bacon and fresh produce sandwiched between two pieces of bread....lovely. Over Memorial Day Weekend, I headed to my family's cabin in Northern Minnesota with my mom, girl friends and dogs. On our last full day there, we had gorgeous weather and did nothing more than sit out on the dock with our books, watching the dogs play in the lake. This recipe for Kicked-Up BLTs was the perfect complement to our dock day. Complement any summer lunch or dinner with this recipe. You will enjoy it :)

Kicked-Up BLTs
*this recipe is for 4 sandwiches

Ingredients:
-8 sandwich-style slices of Sourdough Bread
-2 tbsp of room temperature butter
-1 garlic clove
-1 package (appx 10 pieces) of bacon
-mayonnaise
-deli-style mustard
-8 tomato slices
-sea salt
-black pepper
-8 pieces of fresh basil
-1 avocado
-1 head of romaine lettuce

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Butter the sourdough bread slices and bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes, until lightly crispy. Rub each piece with the clove of garlic.
3. Cook the bacon and drain it on paper towels.
4. Prep the fresh ingredients...slice tomatoes and avocado, wash and dry lettuce.
5. Begin to assemble the sandwiches. Depending on eater's preference, spread mayonnaise and/or deli mustard onto the bread slices.
6. Top one slice of bread per sandwich with bacon.
7. Place two tomato slices onto each sandwich. Season with sea salt and pepper.
8. Place a basil leaf over each tomato slice.
9. Place a slice of avocado over each basil leaf.
10. Cover the avocado with a piece of romaine lettuce.
11. Top the ingredients with the remaining slice of bread.
12. Secure the sandwich ingredients with a toothpick.
13. Serve and enjoy :)


Pictures and Tips:

Step 2. Butter the sourdough slice and bake in the oven until the butter is melted and the bread is slightly crispy.

Remove the bread from the oven and rub each slice with the clove of garlic. The crispy edge pieces created from baking with help release the juices of the garlic clove.

This sandwich is all about building layers of flavor...it starts with the bread!

Step 3. Cook the bacon and drain on paper towels to soak up the excess fat. You can cook your bacon in a skillet, as pictured above, or use the oven method I showed you in step 2 of the Bacon, Egg and Toast Cups recipe. Cook the bacon to your desired crispyness level.

Step 4. Prepare the remaining sandwich ingredients. Thinly slice the tomatoes. To make tomato slicing easier, use a serrated knife...like a bread knife.

Slice your avocado. Avocados are easy to handle with the right method. Use a sharp knife to slice all the way around the avocado and then twist with your hands to separate the sides. Using a bit of force, chop your knife into the pit and twist to remove it easily. Make thin slices down the length of the avocado and gently wedge the slices out with your knife.

A few avocado notes:
* You can tell they are ripe at the store when they have a deep, rich green color and are just slightly soft to the touch
* If you don't use the whole avocado, leave the pit in and cover the unused portion to help preserve it longer. You can also use the pit-in trick to help keep guacamole fresh.

Here is a picture of my prepped sandwich ingredients. I like to have everything ready to go to expedite the assembly process.

Steps 5 through 7. Begin to assemble the sandwiches. Depending on eater preference, slather the sourdough slices with mayo and/or mustard. Break the bacon slices to fit the bread and layer on. Top the bacon layer with two tomato slices and season with sea salt and black pepper.

Steps 8 & 9. Continue the assembly. Top each tomato slice with a basil leaf. Then  top each basil leaf with a slice of avocado.

Steps 10 through 12. Top the avocado slices with a piece of romaine lettuce. Place the remaining sourdough slice on top and secure the sandwich with a tooth pick.

Step 13. Enjoy! Here is a picture of the finished product out on the dock. I paired this delicious sandwich with some simple apple slices and served it with lemon ice water. It was the perfect complement to a sunny dock day.

This sandwich is summer perfection. I hope it adds to your sunny summer memories this year :)

Thanks for visiting,

-The Delicious Dabbler

ps. a bonus picture of my gorgeous girl enjoying her dock time: