BLT | I Can Cook That

Bacon, Tomato, and Arugula (BLT) Pizza

I haven’t made a pizza recipe on here in a while (since October! Wow!) so it’s about time I rectified that! I honestly would not have typically chosen this recipe from my latest Cooking Light magazine, but my boyfriend spotted it on the cover and put in a special request. He typically eats whatever I decide to make without complaint, so I figured I could make something out of my typical repertoire just this once 🙂

This BLT Pizza is pretty self explanatory: pizza with bacon, “lettuce” (arugula), roasted tomatoes, and even a mayo base. It does take some time to make though (~1 hour) so either plan accordingly on a weeknight or save this recipe for a weekend!

This is also the first time I used a pizza stone (very exciting, I know). I’ve apparently had this little guy for a while but completely forgot about it! If you don’t have a pizza stone, just use a large cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

Ingredients:

1 pound ripe tomatoes, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup canola mayonnaise

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

2 garlic cloves, grated

4 center-cut bacon slices, cut in half

10 ounce fresh pizza dough

1 tablespoon cornmeal (if needed)

2 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup baby arugula

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Open-Faced Salmon and Avocado BLTs

Salmon, avocado, and bacon… what’s not to love? This recipe is perfect for nights that you just need to whip something up quickly with little effort. Although I will warn you, it’s not exactly an easy meal to eat. It can get quite messy because it is open-faced!

Ingredients:

4 (1-ounce) slices diagonally cut ciabatta or rustic Italian bread
4 center-cut bacon slices
4 (4-ounce) sustainable salmon fillets, skinned (about 3/4 inch thick)
1/4 cup canola mayonnaise
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 Bibb (Boston, butterhead) lettuce leaves
4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices tomato, halved
1/2 peeled ripe avocado, cut into 8 slices
4 lemon wedges

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Egg BLT with Avocado

When I came across this recipe, my first thought was “why don’t people make Egg BLTs more often”? Why is this not a common brunch menu choice? Egg sounds like a logical upgrade to a traditional BLT. The addition of avocado to this just takes it over the top. I found this recipe on myrecipes.com and switched it around a bit, but the general idea is the same.

Ingredients (makes two servings):

1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes

1/2 avocado, diced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, divided
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
2 pieces of ciabatta bread (or 2 ciabatta rolls)
1 cup firmly packed arugula
4 thick bacon slices, cooked

I bought one of those “bake at home” ciabatta breads that you pop in the oven for about 10 minutes. I thought some “freshly baked” bread would be nice with this dish. You can use whatever bread you happen to find if ciabatta is not available.

Cook the bacon according to package directions. Transfer to a paper towel to drain excess fat.

Combine the tomatoes, avocado, basil, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl.

Cook eggs over easy (or whatever style you prefer). To cook them over easy, heat a saute pan over low heat and spray with cooking spray. Crack one egg into the pan. Season with salt and pepper if desired (I honestly don’t think you need it ) and cook until the whites become opaque. To make sure the yolk cooks slightly, I add a top to the saute pan. Repeat with the second egg.

Now it’s all assembly. Spread 1 teaspoon mayonnaise on a slice of bread.

Add 1/2 cup arugula.

2 bacon slices (I tore them in half to fit nicely)

and the egg.

Top with the tomato avocado mixture.

This is the fanciest BLT I’ve ever seen.

It was fantastic too. I kept saying over and over again how yummy each bite was!

This recipe is so great because you can substitute whatever you want. Mess up the egg? Stick a scrambled egg on there instead. Hate arugula? Substitute baby spinach leaves. I suggest adding some extra sliced basil on top of the whole dish to add some extra freshness!

Salmon BLT

I’m not the biggest fan of sandwiches in general. PBJ, BLT, Turkey and Cheese… they just don’t cut it. I recently saw the last 3 minutes of a cooking show where they were making Salmon BLTs and couldn’t get the idea out of my head. It seemed easy enough (I didn’t catch their actual ingredients and preparation) so I tried it out for myself. Apparently these types of sandwiches usually come with mayo or some other condiment, but I left that out. There was still plenty of flavor!

Ingredients:

10 oz salmon fillet (or two 5 oz salmon fillets)

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 slices of bacon

3 slices of bread (I used rye)

1 beefsteak tomato, sliced

A handful of raw baby spinach leaves

Salt and pepper, to taste

Note: this is for 2 servings

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