BLT Recipes!

Who doesn't love a good BLT? Well, you can get that great flavor in a variety of ways, shapes and sizes! We have our favorites, but it also depends on the occasion. Salads are great for a dinner party. Dips are great for munching during the game. Sandwiches and wraps are great for sandwich night or a quick lunch! Check out these BLT recipes! All Pictures have a link to the recipes below!

 BLT Pasta Salad

 BLT Tacos

BLT Dip 

And as always, back to simple original
BLT Sandwich! 

BLT Tacos

I'm celebrating National Bacon Day with these tasty BLT Tacos. Several years ago, I created my BLT dip, and it was very well received. So I decided to take it a step farther with these yummy tacos. The hubby is laid up with a bad back once again, so I made these for him to try. His response? "Oh my gosh! These are wonderful! (nom,nom,nom) Oh these are good!" I'll have to agree! :-)

8-10 pieces of Bacon, cooked, drained and broken into 1 inch pieces
2 cups Lettuce, chopped
1 large Tomato, chopped
* 1/2 or 3/4 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
Black Pepper, to taste
6-8 Flour Tortillas (soft tacos)

Combine all ingredients except the tortillas in a medium size bowl. Heat the tacos just until they are pliable. Stuff them with the BLT mixture. Enjoy!

* The cheese is optional, but I liked it. (And I'm a BLT lover!) You can choose which amount you want depending on how much cheese flavor you'd like... or leave it out altogether. 

Pasta Salad BLT

I'd have to say that my favorite sandwich... Those of you that follow me know it's a Reuben and don't get me started! LOL... But my second favorite sandwich is a BLT. I've done blogs about the sandwich, dips,  stuffed bltomatoes, etc. This is another form of the wonderful flavor of the BLT...

8 oz of pasta, cooked and cooled

8 oz bacon, cooked and crumbled

8 - 10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Leaf lettuce, torn into bite size pieces

¼ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream

Salt and pepper

Pinch of basil

Cook your favorite pasta (here I used rotini). Rinse and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, combine pasta and bacon. Add in mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, pepper and basil—mix until fully combined. Carefully stir in lettuce and tomatoes. Serve room temperature or cool in the frig until ready to serve.

BLT Dip

This recipe can be used in a lot of different ways. Use it as a dip for crackers, chips or toast points. Use it as an appetizer mixing everything together except the tomato and stuff cherry tomatoes with the dip, or use it as a spread on subs, sandwiches and even burgers. There are all kinds of ideas for this tasty recipe! Enjoy and have a safe weekend!

Here I used cored, seeded tomatoes 

sliced into chunks to eat with the dip!

BLT Dip


6 slices cooked Bacon, crumbled

1 cup Sour Cream

1 cup Mayonnaise
1 cup chopped, seeded plum Tomatoes
Salt and Pepper to taste
Lettuce
Crackers for dipping


Mix bacon, sour cream, mayo, and tomatoes. Cover and put in frig for about an hour. Hollow out a tomato and spoon dip into it. Place on the lettuce leaves and surround with Crackers.

Note: You can substitute a 3 oz jar of real bacon bits for sliced Bacon.

Here is another cute way to serve this dip! :-)

***You can also use canned diced tomatoes to thin the 
mixture down and use it as a salad dressing!

Chicken Caesar Wraps

Earlier this afternoon I posted on Facebook:

"It's really bad when you love to cook like me, and you've grocery shopped for food for the next week and a half... and you can't make up your mind about what to cook...

I now have a roast with potatoes and portabellos in the oven... Chicken done for the Chicken Wraps... and everything ready to put together the Chicken Caesar Pizzas!

Hmmmmm! I wonder what we are having for supper???!!!???
LOL"

So I made a decision that since everything was ready for the wraps and they wouldn't take anymore cooking time (and I was starving), we would have Chicken Caesar Wraps for supper. I put back the stuff for the pizza, and everyone knows that pot roast is even better the next day. It had another hour to cook anyway! :-)

I also must confess that I found a kit for the wraps made by Mission Foods. It had 12 wraps, Caesar Seasoning and Caesar Dressing. It was priced at $3.59 and had a peel off coupon for $1.00 off! 

Romaine Heart was $1.33

Chicken Boneless Breasts $1.53

Tomato $.69

and I had the cheese on hand (that was optional since the dressing has the cheese in it also)

Soooo a meal that made 12 chicken wraps costs $6.14! 

An Ice-Water Bath Crisps the Romaine! It was a little limp...

The Caesar Seasoning, water and shredded chicken...

The finished product! Viola!!!

I still have leftovers, so this could be another meal... 2 meals for $6.14 ain't bad!!!

7 Layer Salad

Sometimes I add tomatoes or vidalia onion... whatever I'm in the mood for. It's up to you what you want to add or leave out.

Layer in a large bowl:

1. 1 small head Lettuce
2. 1 Cucumber, chopped
3. Green Onion (optional)
4. 1 can Very Young Garden Peas, drained
5. Mayonnaise, enough to cover the peas
6. Parmesan Cheese
7. Bacon Bits

Note: It's even better after it sits in the frig overnight.

Buttermilk Dressing

• With this recipe, you don't need to go out and buy a $3 bottle of buttermilk to get the great flavor of buttermilk dressing. Use the old substitution of whole milk and lemon... Things we usually have on hand anyway!

• 1 cup whole Milk
• Zest and juice of 1/2 Lemon
• 5 tablespoons Mayonnaise
• 1/2 small Shallot, finely minced
• 11/2 teaspoons House Seasoning*
• 
  
• 1 bunch Romaine Hearts, sliced
• 1 bunch Watercress, trimmed
• 1 bunch Radishes, thinly sliced
• Seasoned Croutons
• 
  
• In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and lemon juice; let stand until milk thickens, about 5 minutes. Add lemon zest, mayonnaise, shallots, and house seasoning. Whisk to combine, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Place romaine, watercress and radishes in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss to combine; cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Top with Croutons and Parmesan Cheese, if desired.

*House Seasoning:

1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder


Mix together and pour in a shaker.

Cheeseburger Soup... "Liquid Cheeseburger in a Bowl!"

I was watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and saw Guy Fieri ask the owner/cook at Grover's Bar and Grill in East Amherst, N.Y. to show him how they make their Cheeseburger Soup. Of course, they walk you though it very quickly and don't give you all the measurements. I'm not even sure they give you the entire recipe. I was determined to try and replicate the dish and see if it is as Guy said, "Liquid Cheeseburger in a Bowl"!

This is the note I quickly scribbled
while watching the show...

It is so easy and so simple. I thought, "This can't taste THAT good!" Boy, oh boy! It really is "liquid cheeseburger in a bowl"! So, here's the recipe!

2 T butter

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups beef stock
1 cup milk
16 oz Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 lb hamburger
2-3 T flour
lettuce & tomato, largely chopped

Saute the onions in butter until translucent. Add 2 cups beef stock and 1 cup milk. Add cubed Velveeta and stir until melted. Cook hamburger. Add about 2 - 3 tablespoons of flour to the hamburger. (This will make a slurry when the flour combines with the fat off of the hamburger.) Add the hamburger mixture to the soup. Bring soup up to a high simmer. If the soup is too thick, add a little more stock. When ready to serve, throw a handful of lettuce and tomato in a bowl and top with several spoonfuls of soup. Cheeseburger in a bowl!

Beat the Heat Recipes

With the heat index this past few weeks reaching triple digits, I've been looking for things to make that won't heat up the kitchen. It's already too hot as it is... Here are a few refreshing recipes that WON'T make you break a sweat!

Southwest Wrap

3/4 cup corn

1/4 cup chopped red onions

3 Tbsp. Chipotle Flavored Mayonnaise
4 tortillas (8 inch)
4 lettuce leaves
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
16 slices Ham
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

Combine first 3 ingredients. Top tortillas with lettuce, cheese, ham, corn mixture and tomatoes. Fold up bottom edge of each tortilla, then roll up starting at 1 side.


Fresh Tomato Salsa

3 tomatoes (1 lb.), chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup Italian Dressing

Combine ingredients. Serve salsa with tortilla chips, crackers or assorted fresh vegetables.
 

 

Watermelon Cooler

4 cups chopped watermelon
1/3 cup Strawberry Sugar-Sweetened Drink Mix

Blend ingredients in blender until smooth. Serve over ice.
Add a splash of 7up or Sprite, if it needs more liquid.
It will depend on how juicy the watermelon is...

BLT Dip

This is a wonderful dip that you can be really creative with. You can turn it into wraps, or use it as a special sauce for burgers and sandwiches. You can also make it a stuffing for hollowed out cherry tomatoes. If you don't use it with tomatoes as in stuffed or using as dippers, chop the tomato and add it to the dip. Try it and see which way you like it.

BLT Dip

6 slices cooked Bacon, crumbled
1 cup Sour Cream
1 cup Mayonnaise
Salt and Pepper to taste
Lettuce
Roma Tomatoes, seeded and sliced lengthwise, for dipping

Mix bacon, sour cream, mayo, and S & P, to taste. Cover and put in frig for about an hour. Plate by placing a bowl of dip on lettuce leaves and surround with Tomato slices.

Note: You can substitute a 3 oz jar of real bacon bits for sliced Bacon.

Cheeseburger Soup

I was watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and saw Guy Fieri ask the owner/cook at Grover's Bar and Grill in East Amherst, N.Y. to show him how they make their Cheeseburger Soup. Of course, they walk you though it very quickly and don't give you all the measurements. I'm not even sure they give you the entire recipe. I was determined to try and replicate the dish and see if it is as Guy said, "Liquid Cheeseburger in a Bowl"!

This is the note I quickly scribbled
while watching the show...

It is so easy and so simple. I thought, "This can't taste THAT good!" Boy, oh boy! It really is "liquid cheeseburger in a bowl"! So, here's the recipe!

2 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups beef stock
16 oz Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 lb hamburger, cooked and drained
lettuce & tomato, largely chopped

Saute the onions in butter until translucent. Add 2 cups beef stock. Add cubed Velveeta and stir until melted. Add hamburger. When ready to serve, throw a handful of lettuce and tomato in a bowl and top with several spoonfuls of soup. Cheeseburger in a bowl!