BLT Salad

Victoria picked this out of her Williams Sonoma Cooking Together Cookbook.  In theory it sounds wonderful.  BUT...we both agreed that the dressing for it was not very good.  It would have been better without dressing or with what ever our favorite dressing is.

8 bacon slices, cut into bite-size pieces

1 baguette, cut into bite-size cubes
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 tsp. salt
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 pint mixed red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

Preheat an oven to 400°F.


Spread out the bacon pieces on a rimmed baking sheet. Spread out the baguette cubes on a second rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over the baguette cubes. Using clean hands, toss the cubes to coat them evenly.

Put both baking sheets in the oven. Bake the baguette cubes until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Bake the bacon pieces until crisp, about 15 minutes.

When the baguette cubes are ready, remove them from the oven and let them cool. Then, when the bacon pieces are ready, remove them as well and transfer to paper towels to drain and cool.

To make the dressing, in a blender, combine the sour cream, lemon juice, cheese, salt and garlic. Blend until smooth.

In a large salad bowl, combine the lettuce, tomatoes, bacon and baguette croutons. Drizzle with the dressing, toss to mix and serve immediately. Serves 4.