During the hot days of summer a cool, fresh salad hits the spot. It’s the perfect time for it too since the gardens and farmer’s markets are bursting with produce. We don’t do a lot of bread around here, so I wanted to recreate the classic BLT flavors in veggie-packed salad form.
Salad greens topped with crispy bacon, sweet cherry tomatoes, and a tangy lemon mustard vinaigrette… it doesn’t get much fresher!
BLT Salad: A Classic Reinvented
What is it about a Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich? It’s so simple but hits the spot every time. But what if, rather than a thin slice of tomato and a leaf of lettuce, you could pile it high with good-for-you veggies?
Tossing together a BLT salad for dinner is a great way to make use of garden produce. You can use any type of greens you like. I like a bit of arugula and baby spinach for their B vitamins and iron, as well as some romaine lettuce for crunch.
Not a very confident gardener yet? The cherry tomatoes for this recipe are a kid-favorite garden treasure and very easy to grow. All you need is a nice big pot, some dirt, a stake and string, and sunshine! Kids love to watch them ripen and their natural sweetness is perfect in this salad.
Top the salad with some sliced avocado and creamy goat cheese to mimic the mayo of a traditional BLT. This salad will let you enjoy the flavors of a BLT without the bread and leave you feeling refreshed and satisfied!
Lunch To-Go
Salads make perfect dinners for busy days since they are usually fast and easy to make. I like to make ahead of time in a mason jar (just another of their handy uses) for great to-go salad containers. Just put the wet ingredients (tomatoes, dressing, avocado) on the bottom. Follow with the salad greens on the top and cap with a lid. When you’re ready to eat, just shake the jar to mix everything up or dump it on a plate.
BLTs With Avocado?
Absolutely! Because avocados are both delicious and healthy.
Avocados are one of the most versatile ingredients. They are tasty on their own, but are also mild enough to combine easily with other flavors. Most commonly, avocados are mashed into guacamole. But they are also delicious in smoothies, on top of soups and salads, and can even be used to make an egg-free mayo.
Avocados are so nutrient dense and creamy that they make a good replacement for eggs or dairy in some recipes. They are also high in fiber, potassium, B vitamins, and healthy fats.
The Dressing
Store-bought salad dressings frequently contain refined oils and artificial additives. By making them at home I know that my family is consuming a good dose of healthy oils and real food ingredients.
It’s also more economical to make salad dressings at home, since I already have most of the common ingredients on hand. The most common dressing ingredients include olive oil, a variety of vinegars, and herbs.
Instead of making dressings from scratch every time I need them, I save time by making double or triple batches of some types of dressings. (Tip: use dried herbs to keep them fresh the longest.) I store them in a mason jar with a lid and have them on hand when I need them.
The vinaigrette for this salad is a combination of lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, honey, and a little salt and pepper. It’s pretty tangy and would also work well as a marinade for chicken or fish. Shake it up in a mason jar and keep the leftovers in the fridge for another day.
Check out this post for some of my other salad dressing recipes.
BLT Salad with Avocado Recipe
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 12 oz bacon
- 8 cups salad greens
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 2 avocados
- 4 oz goat cheese (optional)
For the Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 TBSP honey
- 1½ TBSP Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Chop the bacon into pieces.
- In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crispy.
- While the bacon is cooking, divide the salad greens among four plates.
- Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and divide evenly among the plates.
- When the bacon is cooked, drain it on a plate lined with paper towels and set aside to cool.
- Slice the avocados.
- Divide the avocados, goat cheese if using, and bacon evenly among the plates.
- To make the vinaigrette, combine the lemon juice, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper in a mason jar.
- Shake to combine.
- Gradually whisk in the olive oil.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette over each salad, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Other Summer Salad Recipes
Looking for some more delicious salad combinations? Here are some of our favorites:
- Asian Color Burst Salad
- Steak Fajita Salad
- Spring Salad with Berries
- Fish Taco Salad
- Tuna Nicoise Salad With Herb Vinaigrette
What is your family’s favorite summertime salad? Let me know below!
This is so good. I’m making it again this summer, like tonight 🙂
I’m going to add a hardboiled egg.
Wonderful recipe, thanks!
This is my new favorite salad, and I don’t even like salads! Bacon, goat cheese, and that dressing—YUM!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Why did you call cherry tomato sweet? That is not a word I would use to describe any tomatoes. Blegh! Other than that, the salad sounds totally delicious! I love avocado! You can use it instead of ketchup on meatloaf, or use it on an egg sandwich instead of mayo… Or even better, guacamole! Avocado is delicious. ???
You mention honey in the dressing in the article but not in the actual recipe. How much honey to you use? Thanks. I will make this salad this week!
So sorry! 2 TBSP 🙂
Made it, ate it, loved it! Yum, thank you!!!
Going to make this tonight, It looks so yummy. Thanks!
That salad looks absolutely noshable.