Recipe for bacon, lettuce and tomato salad with creamy basil dressing {gluten-free}
When it comes to salad, I fall in love easily and often, and when I do, I eat the same salad for days until my affections find another to love. I fell hard for this bacon, lettuce and tomato salad, tossed with a creamy dressing made with fresh basil from my herb garden. You'll want to use fairly robust lettuce, the ripest tomato, and just enough bacon to remind you of the best BLT sandwich you've ever had. Don't skimp on the basil; the dressing should be vibrant and herby. If you absolutely need the bread for your BLT, add some large homemade croutons. This is an in-season salad, so enjoy it now with the end of the summer tomatoes and basil. Then, save the recipe for next summer. You'll fall in love all over again.
Bacon, lettuce and tomato salad with creamy basil dressing
From the pantry, you'll need: bacon, mayonnaise, plain low-fat yogurt, agave nectar, kosher salt, fresh black pepper.
Serves 2; can be multiplied.
Ingredients
For the dressing:
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 Tbsp plain low-fat or nonfat yogurt
10 large fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped (to make 2-3 Tbsp)
1 tsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp water
1/4 tsp each: kosher salt and fresh black pepper
For the salad:
3 slices bacon, cooked, torn into 1-inch pieces
1 large ripe tomato, diced
3-4 cups lettuce (use your favorite: mixed baby greens, romaine, etc.), chopped into bite-size pieces
Directions
In a small blender, combine all of the ingredients for the dressing, and process until the dressing turns a light green and everything is well mixed.
Add the bacon, lettuce and tomato to a large bowl. Pour on just as much of the dressing as you need, and not more (you might have a bit left over), to moisten the salad without drowning it.
Serve immediately. To make ahead, refrigerate the dressing and salad ingredients separately, and combine when you're ready to serve.
Other bacon-happy salads:
Spinach salad with honey mustard vinaigrette, from The Perfect Pantry
Warm red cabbage salad with bacon and goat cheese, from Kalyn's Kitchen
Broccoli salad with bacon and raisins, from Pinch My Salt
Baby chard salad with asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, and hot bacon vinaigrette, from Andrea Meyers
Need more ideas for how to create salads with pizzazz? Get Dress Up Your Salad, my e-book packed with easy mix-and-match recipes, full-color photos and a few fun videos. Exciting salad recipes from everyday ingredients can be just one click away, on any computer, tablet or smart phone, with the FREE Kindle Reading app. Click here to learn more.
Disclosure: The Perfect Pantry earns a few pennies on purchases made through the Amazon.com links in this post. Thank you for supporting this site when you start your shopping here.
This recipe sounds divine, Lydia! Would like to try a dairy-free version of this dressing with our bees' honey. ;-)
Shirley
I don't eat a lot of bacon, but I certainly wouldn't say no to this salad!
BLT in salad form? Sounds perfect to me!
Shirley, you're so lucky to have your own honey. That would make everything taste better!
Kalyn, same here, which is why the small bits of bacon make this salad such a treat.
Kathy, yes indeed! And I didn't add croutons, which would complete the panini theme, but you certainly can add them.
This looks absolutely delicious, I love the basil dressing :D
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
CCU, this is my instant new favorite salad!
Thank you, Lydia. Perfect. And with the yogurt-based dressing it's quite healthy. That is IF I can really limit myself to 3 slices of bacon. I consider bacon a major food group.
this recipe will be popular for the dressing alone. Agave nectar is a touch of class.
Lydia,
Bacon is my weakness which is why I usually freeze most of the pan after baking. This looks so yummy--and I've got all the goods!
Thanks.
doing some catch up reading and I must have been subliminally influenced a while back from the original email blast as I recently had a "BLT" salad but no basil dressing - next time!!