B.L.A.T. With Basil Mayonnaise

With our busy schedules, sometimes it's hard for Laura and I to find the time to cook at night, especially when both of our jobs require working after the sun sets. So last Saturday, we decided to make lunch together and put a new twist on a classic lunch dish.

What's a B.L.A.T. you might ask? It's simple — bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato. Now anyone can make this sandwich, but it's the basil mayo that makes this sandwich shine. Laura and I were watching Ina Garten's show, "Barefoot Contessa" on the Food Network, and she made an heirloom tomato sandwich on fresh ciabatta bread with her homemade basil mayo.

So we thought, why not expand that idea into a B.L.A.T.? It's so easy to make, and pretty cheap too. Here's what you'll need.

• One package of sliced bacon
• One avocado
• Half loaf of Ciabatta bread (King Kullen has a pretty diverse bread section, so you can probably find it there.)
• One heirloom tomato
• Handful of basil
• Half cup of mayonnaise (I'm a Hellman's guy. Say no to Miracle Whip!)
• One lemon
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh arugula

First, you'll need to make the basil mayonnaise. Scoop a half cup of mayonnaise into a bowl. Finely chop a handful of basil and add it in. Then squeeze half a lemon into the bowl, mix it, and add some salt and pepper. Cover it with some Saran wrap and put it in the refrigerator.

Depending on how many sandwiches you're making (this recipe is for one), sautee three strips of bacon. Slice the heirloom tomato, as well as one whole avocado. Now you can start layering your sandwich. Slice the ciabatta bread as thick or thin as you like. I like to stick to the thicker slices, as the juices from the tomato can make a thinner slice get soggy. 

Spread some of the delicious herb mayo on the bread and layer your bacon, tomato, avocado and fresh arugula onto the sandwich. The order I prefer is mayo, tomato, bacon, arugula, then avocado  — but any order is perfectly fine. 

If you have one, put the sandwich on a George Foreman grill on a low heat setting for about 25 seconds. It will warm the sandwich, but not make the mayo warm enough that it leaks off your sandwich. If you don't own one of those grills, toast the bread before hand to give it that crunchy contrast to the soft avocado.

This should take no more than 15 minutes to make, and the basil mayo makes the difference! Bon apetit!