There’s a cafe my Irishman and I have been going to quite a bit recently that has a ‘BLAT’ sandwich on the breakfast menu. While it doesn’t sound as appealing as a BLT, the addition of avocado far outweighs the dodgy sounding name.
The other day I was inspired to turn said sandwich into a lunch time salad. To be honest I prefer this lighter salad to the sandwich version. I love when that happens.
The ‘BLAT’ Salad
Ingredients
- 4-6 slices bacon chopped
- 1 tablespoon sherry or wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 bag salad leaves
- 1 avocado
- 1 large handful semi-dried tomatoes
Instructions
- Heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook bacon on a medium high heat until crispy.
- Combine vinegar with 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a large bowl. Season.
- Toss leaves in the dressing. Sprinkle over chunks of avocado, tomatoes and the hot crunchy bacon before serving.
Variations
vegan – replace bacon with sliced grilled or roast mushrooms.
vegetarian – skip the bacon and serve smoked almonds and a poached or boiled egg on top.
more substantial (carb lovers) – toss in a drained can of white beans such as cannellini or butter beans to warm up in the bacon fat and add to the salad. You could also just toss in torn sourdough.
more substantial (low carb) – add roast nuts. Extra avocado. Shaved Parmesan.
don’t have semi dried tomatoes? – replace with halved fresh cherry tomatoes instead.
more veg – add chopped raw veg like snowpeas to the salad.
carnivore – add extra bacon.
keto / ultra low carb – replace semi dried tomatoes with extra bacon.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
bacon – I buy mine in a cryovac pack which has a shelf life of a few weeks.
sherry or red wine vinegar – keep in the pantry.
lettuce leaves – will keep in the fridge for a few weeks in a plastic bag. Otherwise use for another meal as it’s not great once frozen.
avocado – use for another meal. Doesn’t freeze well.
semi dried tomatoes – in an unopened jar will last in the pantry for months.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
We had this tonight. Meal #2 for the challenge. I didn’t have enough salad greens, so added spinach and some leftover bits of cabbage from coleslaw to the bowl. Also used some fresh tomatoes I had on hand. Had a beautiful avocado. It was delish, but didn’t take a photo, since it wasn’t exactly pretty. A real keeper!
Yum Nikki! Can imagine it would have been lovely with the cabbage 🙂
Meal #4 for the challenge. I enjoyed this a lot, and got to break into my new supply of sherry vinegar (I thought I ordered two small bottles and got two huge ones, so I have a lifetime supply). I actually did this for lunch, and I think I’ll add it to my regular repeat list.
You can never have too much sherry vinegar Susan 🙂
I love this with mushrooms too!
Mushrooms are always a good idea Jennifer 🙂
Really enjoyed this! Had Roma tomatoes, not semi-dried, and that worked out fine! I think the only change I’ll make next time is lemon juice for the vinegar.
Fantastic April!
Then there’s the BLEAT which adds an egg! Yummo
ooh an egg is always a good idea Heather 🙂
The past comes back to haunt me! Probably 50 or more years ago I invented both a BLAT sandwich and a BLOAT sandwich (adding onion)! I like your salad version of it, but am not sure my husband would like it, given that he is a fan of neither bacon nor avocado (it’s very sad to me what he misses out on that way). I just may have to try this anyway.
Too funny Susan! Love the idea of the BLOAT 🙂
Oh Jules! This salad was the perfect weekend brunch. So good! Subbed cherry tomatoes for the semi-dried; cut in half and fried in the pan with the bacon. I had my first serve as an open sandwich on toasted rye with a little mayo, but was also completely satisfied with my bread-less second serve 🙂
Yay Matilda!
Glad you liked it 🙂