We’re welcoming summer as it brings al kinds of goodies to the table, namely tomatoes. Started a new dinner night, called BLTuesdays. I don’t eat a lot of meat during the normal course of a week, but the last 3 weeks have included bacon! Of course, we have tried out some different recipes on off nights, but having friends over to partake of BLTuesdays has been really fun!

We’ve made the typical BLT sandwich, with additions like mustard, dill and basil (for weirdos like me). The tomatoes mostly have come from a local greenhouse (Black Jack) since the outdoor ones are just blooming here in north central alabama.

We went out for a birthday and had fried green tomato BLT’s at the J Clyde. Yummy, but can’t wait to make my own…

The next recipe we tried was adapted form Alton Brown’s “TBL Panzanella” which is awesome to say the least. I didn’t use as much of the drippings as called for, because I want to enjoy BLTuesdays with a little less guilt. Most of our ingredients have been pretty local. At least the bread is baked locally, anyway (Continental Bakery). The bacon has been from a company in Tuscaloosa (Zeigler), and and my baby basil has been supplemented by some I got form the local farmer’s market. I grow my own lettuces, which is always a great thing to have and inspires many salads!

This week’s BLT was just the two of use, and I made BLTomritos: 2 eggs, my freshly grown onion, dill, tomato, bacon, lettuce, a grate of black pepper and cheddar all wrapped in a tortilla. YUM!

I’ve been encouraging everyone I know to eat a BLT. Use whatever bacon suits you- local, tofu, turkey…. just make a BLT with a real local tomato, preferably from no more than a state away if you’re still waiting.
We’ll be having BLTuesdays til Novemer if things work out right!

Thanks to Lesley for taking most of these photos (the last one was mine)!