Grilled BLT salad

Has anyone started wondering if I still cook anymore? Ha, so it's just Lance that wonders if I still cook? At this stage of our life, less is more and repetition happens. We have standbys that will please everyone and things I know I can make that won't make me want to throw up once I smell the finished product (food smells are still bothersome). I really like summer and the minimally prepared seasonal foods that go with them. Lance tolerates salad reasonably well and Lucan, well, not so much. But in the case of this BLT salad, I was able to deconstruct it some where Lucan was eating "parts" of the salad along with us. And in the eyes of Dinner: A Love Story, that is a dinner win.

Salad
2 romaine lettuce hearts, cut in half lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup cherry tomato halves
1 cup cooked largely diced bacon
1 cup seasoned croutons
1 medium avocado, skin and pit removed, and diced

Dressing:
1/3 cup mayonnaise (you could also sub plain greek yogurt too)
¼ cup milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
½ teaspoons garlic powder (the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic and that was waay too much)
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Heat the grill on medium high.
Brush the romaine lettuce with olive oil.
Place the romaine lettuce on the grill, cut side down for 3 minutes, then flip it to the other side and grill for 3 minutes (really watch your lettuce - if your grill runs hot, you don't want to burn your salad. Burnt lettuce is as about tasty as charred paper. I speak from experience.)
Plate the lettuce.
Top the grilled romaine lettuce with the tomatoes, bacon, croutons, and the avocado.
To make the dressing, whisk the mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, garlic powder, and pepper together until smooth.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad.

The best bites are the ones that include a little bit of everything on them. And of course, no burnt lettuce :) For inquiring minds, Lucan ate bacon, croutons and some avocado. That's kind of a balanced meal, right?

 

Original recipe source PBS Parents. 

Santa Fe Summer BBQ Pizza

One side benefit from not having a job is being able to spend more time cooking and using our garden produce. Yes, it's a very small benefit, but we're looking on the bright side here folks. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't be able to start pizza dough in my bread machine on a weeknight. Now, with a little planning and foresight, I can do this fairly easy. I need to look into making pizza dough ahead of time and then freezing it. Does anyone know anything about doing that?

The main reason I made this particular pizza was because we happened to have all of the ingredients on hand and fresh. Fresh cherry tomatoes, cilantro and sweet corn. I even happened to have some black beans in the fridge begging to get used. I've taken to buying dried beans, soaking them overnight and the cooking them on low in the crockpot during the day. It's the cheaper option and I throw them in the freezer (never to be seen again) and pull them out as needed. This was also a good supper option because it includes no meat. Meat is pricey. Our stockpile of beef has dwindled and there isn't any magic money lying about to buy another side of beef. So, meatless Tuesdays it is. Lance has even stopped complaining about the meatless meals we have because it typically uses up a healthy pile of garden tomatoes.

Enough tangent. This pizza wasn't bad. Most people would probably be like this pizza as long as you like subbing bbq sauce for your typical tomato sauce. I'm not sure if I'm part of that group. But again, we had every single ingredient on hand, so it was hard to argue against making this pizza. I'd probably make it again too, but not terribly often.

Without further adieu, the recipe.

Santa Fe Summer BBQ Pizza

Topping ingredients
 
1/3 cup BBQ sauce
1 cup black beans, drained & rinsed
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Pizza crust ingredients

3/4 cup water, 80 degrees
1 T oil
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1 T dry milk
2 1/4 cups bread flour
3/4 t Red Star Quick Rise Yeast

With my bread machine you add all the ingredients in the order they are stated and then hit the program for dough. It takes an hour and 20 minutes. Then you pull out your dough, flour it lightly and then press into a pizza pan, top with desired ingredients and then bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Another great meatless Tuesday!