BLT Salad with Lemon Garlic Dill Mayo Dressing

Uh, hello. It seems like it's been forever since we've talked... I do have an internet connection now (actually for a few days but I haven't gotten the time to post yet.) We have many boxes unpacked and now I have a lot of sorting to get done, and some storage items to get to keep everything! I just have to say unpacking loses its fun after a few days... at least to me. I am not super excited to finish sorting through the rest of the stuff we have - probably why the worst of it hasn't moved for almost a week! I have worked on getting my clothes unpacked all the way... living out of a suitcase is not for me! Maybe since it is raining today I'll be forced to stay in and finish organizing the rest of it. Oh wait, I'm forced to stay inside anyway, my car is in for repair... probably a good thing that I'm going to have to actually tackle some of this mound of stuff.

When I ran the poll for this salad it still felt like summertime... whereas now it is raining and cold outside - it could possibly even SNOW this week (in the middle of the night when it cools off, but still!) Right now, I could see myself posting about soups and the like... but a salad just seems so out of place considering the weather outside my window. However, since this is the recipe that won the poll in mid-September I'll be posting it now.

BLT Salad with Lemon, Garlic & Dill Mayo Dressing

 For the dressing:

You'll need 2 cloves of garlic, minced - I typically use a garlic press, but mine seems to have gotten misplaced in the move (and I took these pictures after we moved b/c I missed taking them the first time!) So I improvised by grating them on the small side of my grater.

 Then I chopped them up a bit. (In total it was about 1/2 Tbsp garlic)

 You'll also need a 1/4 cup measuring cup - I used it 3 times in this recipe (I didn't rinse it or anything... but you can if you want to.) You can also use 3 separate measuring cups - if you want to have the extra dishes, that is!

 You'll need plain yogurt - 1/4 cup of it!

 Dump it into a bowl.

 Toss in the garlic.

 You'll also need mayo.

 You guessed it - 1/4 cup! If you would rather use all mayo you can omit the yogurt. I like using yogurt because:
a) healthier
2) healthier
iii) less calories
d) not as strong of a mayo flavor (I'm weird like that.)
5) did I mention yogurt has less calories and is healthier than mayo? I did. ok ignore 5.
I do not however use only yogurt because having the slight taste of mayo makes it more tasty.

 You'll also need a lemon.

 first, we use the zest -

 I grated it and then chopped it a bit.

 Use 1 tsp of it!

 Toss it in with everything else.

 Next, you'll juice the lemon (or bust out the bottle from the fridge, I won't judge you!)

 Add 2 tsp lemon juice.

You'll also need 1/8 tsp dill weed (dried)

 toss it in there.

 Next, you'll need that 1/4 cup measuring cup again - this time for milk.

 Mix it all together. Salt and pepper to taste.

 Let cool in the fridge until ready to use.

BLT Salad:
Now for the good stuff: the bacon

 First, cut the bacon into pieces - I used a half a pound, slightly frozen. Seriously, cut bacon that is slightly frozen - tons easier!

 Don't we all just LOVE bacon?

 I also trimmed off the hugest amounts of fat. If my kitchen scale hadn't broken, I would have weighed it see how much was actually just fat. Probably don't want to know!

 Toss all that delicious bacon into a pan.

 Let cook until it reaches the desired doneness...

 I like mine crispy - almost burnt.

 My mouth is watering about right now. Excuse me while I go fry up the last half of that pound of bacon...

You'll also need some tomato.

and lettuce.

Optional additional ingredients:

 boiled eggs.

 sliced bell peppers

 cucumbers, and anything else you may want.

Now for the assembly:

 Top the lettuce with some of that mouth watering good bacon,

 toss on the tomato,

 and any other optional ingredient you want.

 Top with dressing

 sprinkle with bacon - it's the right thing to do. (This salad in now way hindered my weight loss! I won't say the same thing about the cookie I had for dessert!)

Enjoy!
BLT Salad: Print Recipe
Dressing:  Print Recipe