Wow. I feel like giving a victory shout! Have you ever resisted temptation and asked “for a way out” and discovered a ‘way out” that surpassed the original object of temptation? Okay, if I’ve lost you, let me get specific.

This morning I cooked up a batch of wonderful, uncured, applewood smoked bacon. As I was carefully blotting each thick, meaty slice, my gaze traveled just beyond the bacon to the fruit basket on my counter. There sat three beautiful, shiny heirloom tomatoes and two perfectly ripe yet firm Haas avocadoes.

Running late for church, I wrapped up the bacon, telling myself I could figure out something later for an early lunch, grabbed a handful of almonds and ran out the door.
Well, if you’re anything like me, you know what happened next. In spite of a really terrific sermon, I spent the next two hours obsessing on my childhood favorite treat, the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, made even more decadent with fresh avocado.

You know that combination of flavors and textures is just hard to beat. I kept trying to figure out how I could enjoy a BLT (plus “A”) without bread. Wrapping the ingredients in a lettuce leaf is always an option, but by this time, I was really hungry, and it just seemed like it would all be gone in a couple of bites and I would be left longing for the original version on bread. I needed “filler.”

Enter the BLT Salad. Half a bag of herb salad mix---the dill in the mix added an unexpected blast of flavor that was delicious---a couple slices of that meaty bacon, roughly chopped, a giant perfectly ripe, unbelievably flavorful tomato, half the avocado, and ----here’s the kicker---a simple dressing made with a teaspoon and a half of mayonnaise (use homemade or storebought without sugar) and two teaspoons fresh lemon juice. If you’re not a mayo fan substitute olive or avocado oil. Eureka! Utter BLT satisfaction, Phase One style.