Friday, September 5, 2008

BLT Pasta Salad

F~O~O~D!!!!!

WELCOME TO FOODY FRIDAY!


Ok, so I have been wanting to participate in Foody Friday and link to my dear friend Jenny's Foody Friday blogs for a LOOOONG time :-) Finally I am getting 'round to it. So, her theme for the week is Quicky and Healthy. I'm not so sure bacon qualifies as being healthy, but I tend to buy nitrate free bacon and it is sure yummy and healthier for us.

I threw this meal together this week when I was loaded down with fresh tomatoes and had leftover bacon on hand, and was desperately craving BLT's. Elle isn't quite able to eat a sandwich yet, so this is what came flying out of my kitchen.

BLT Pasta
6 (or so) slices of bacon
5-6 Roma tomatoes or 2-3 large tomatoes, seeded
1/2 lb. of pasta (we use Smart Pasta Rotini--yummy and good for you too)
Lettuce
Fresh parsley
1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 a small onion
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Fry bacon while water is boiling for the pasta. Once bacon is crispy, set it aside on paper towels. Reserve about 1 tsp (or less or more) of bacon fat in the pan. Add about 1 T of olive oil to pan and about 2-3 T. of vinegar. Scrape up burned on bits of bacon and then add minced garlic. Saute until fragrant and sweet smelling. The vinegar will reduce down and there will be a couple of tablespoons of sauce in the pan. Add the drained pasta to the pan and sauce and mix well.

2. Once well mixed, put pasta into a large serving bowl. Chop tomatoes and add to pasta (the more the better). Add torn lettuce (I think arugula would even work, but romaine sounds the best to me since it is crisp), diced onions, and crumbled bacon. Sprinkle a handful of shredded cheddar cheese and fresh parsley.
ENJOY :-0

P.S. When I made it the other day, I discovered that our lettuce had frozen in our too cold refrigerator, so there was no "L" present in our BLT pasta, but it was still yumm-o!!!


1 comment:

Jenny said...

I'm all over it. Yummy. I used all of my 35 tomatoes today to make tomato soup, but just as soon as we have more ripe ones, I'm making this. Yum-o.

Glad you joined in! It's fun, ain't it?! :)