BLT Salad

My friend, Pooh, told me about this salad that she and her daughter tried making for dinner one night. It was from a Williams Sonoma cookbook and it sounded really good so I decided that I would try it, too. The salad ingredients were delicious, but I didn’t care too much for the dressing so I altered it to come up with a creamy dressing that was more to my liking. The family liked it better with my dressing, too.

BLT SALAD
(Serves 4)

• 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 8 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups croutons, homemade or store bought
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp. sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Spread out the bacon pieces on a rimmed baking sheet.
3. Bake the bacon pieces until crisp, about 12-15 minutes.
4. When the bacon pieces are ready, remove them from the oven and transfer to paper towels to drain and cool.
5. Make the dressing by combining mayonnaise, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl, and blending until well-combined.
6. Place the lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, and croutons into a large salad bowl.
7. Drizzle with dressing and toss to mix well.
8. Serve immediately.

VARIATION:  You could make a BLTA salad, as pictured below, by adding one avocado to the recipe. Cut the avocado into cubes, squeeze a little lemon juice over the cubes to keep them from darkening, and then toss the avocado into your salad. Yum!

[Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Cooking Together, by Erin & Tatum Quon (Oxmoor House, 2009)]

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Avocado Fries

A year or so ago, I saw a picture of fried avocados somewhere on the internet and was instantly intrigued. Filipinos commonly think of avocados for dessert. It’s typically made into ice cream or mashed with milk and sugar into a creamy, albeit green “custard.” Though avocado is a fruit, Americans typically treat it as a vegetable. I remember my surprise when I first came to the United States and saw someone eating avocado in their sandwich! To me, that was like having a roast beef sandwich with bananas in it! Eew! I thought I would never be able to look at avocados as an appetizing addition to salads and other savory foods. So….. fried avocado? This was something entirely new and different for me. Something that in the back of my mind, I resolved I would like to try someday.

Well, that someday finally arrived. I decided I would make them to take to a dinner at my sister’s house and were they a hit! They made a great appetizer – crispy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. I served them with a Green Goddess Dressing. I added an extra teaspoon of lemon juice to the dressing to up the citrusy flavor a bit and the acidity was the perfect complement to cut through the richness of the avocado. I’m definitely going to make these again. Guess I’m changing the way I look at avocados after all.

AVOCADO FRIES

• 2 ripe but still firm avocados
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil for frying

1. Place the flour, eggs and bread crumbs in 3 separate shallow bowls or pie plates.
2. In the first bowl, season the flour with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper.
3. In the second bowl, beat the eggs well.
4. Place the bread crumbs into the third bowl. You can use regular bread crumbs in place of the panko if you prefer. Both work equally well in this recipe.
5. Slice the avocados in half, twist them apart and remove the pit.
6. Scoop out the flesh and cut each into wedges.
7. Sprinkle the avocado wedges with a little salt.
8. Take each wedge one by one and roll first in the flour, then the beaten egg, and finally the bread crumbs.
9. Heat enough oil in a small pot to deep fry the avocado wedges.
10. Fry 3 or 4 wedges at a time until the crust is crispy and golden brown.
11. Drain on paper towels and serve with Green Goddess Dressing or any dressing of your choice. Yum!

Fresh Corn Salad

I love corn. I love it boiled, baked, grilled, on the cob, off the cob, plain, or with butter and seasonings. Any way you fix it, it’s all yummy to me. And I found a really easy way to shuck corn that gets rid of every bit of silk, too. You can watch how to do it here. Who knew?

I first tried this salad at a party at my sister’s house. It was made by Nadja, a friend of my sister, who got the original recipe from Epicurious. It’s easy and delicious. The lime juice imparts a bright flavor that’s so refreshing on a hot summer’s day. It’s no wonder this tasty salad has fast become a family favorite.

FRESH CORN SALAD

• 2 cups cooked corn kernels, cut from cob
• 1 avocado, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/2 cup finely diced red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• juice of 1 whole lime
• grated lime zest from the lime
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Combine corn, avocado, tomatoes, red onion and cilantro in a large bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients to make the dressing.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently.

P.S. – You’re right, there is NO avocado in the salads pictured. I completely forgot to add the avocado before I took the photos and after I tossed the avocado in, the family devoured the salad before I could take new pictures. Sigh…. Oh well…. You get the picture (pun intended).