The perfect BLT
By Carol Venable - Holy Names Mission/Healing Flow
The Perfect BLT
Those of us who grew up in the South remember summertime bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches that were really good, made with homegrown tomatoes and mayonnaise with little thin underdone strips of bacon (they were almost offensively chewy for the discerning tastes of children, but full of salty flavor), on negligible little white toasts. In the world of our deep South childhood there was plenty of pork, it was a common food commodity, and there were always plentiful, luscious tomatoes. Our moms, admiring the lunches they saw in magazines, would tempt us to eat something healthy by including a token strand of pale lettuce in the sandwich.
I was served many of these by my mom over the years, and when my diet had eventually changed so radically for the better, one day I noticed that somehow I still missed them. Turns out I needn't feel deprived; there's a modern BLT alternative. And oh boy is it better!
I realized that first, the piggy needed changing, as its questionable flesh, and the suffering of its demise are something I didn't want to put in my mouth. Now admittedly the "breakfast strips" you find in the local stores aren't quite the same as mom's more traditional strips, and they are not exactly health food either, as they have been "created" with worrisome chemicals along with the soy. But for those special BLT-craving moments, they smell bacon-y as they cook, and they crunch and taste well enough to pass for the real thing in a proper BLT.
With that substitution, the matter of the bread must be addressed. What a wonderful difference it makes in any sandwich to get the richest whole-grain bread you can find! Packed with nutritious gifts of life, the variety of the sprouted-grain bread I like to use, with sesame seeds, stands delicious on its own, and makes a worthy associate for the other components. Then what to spread on it? Having given up unhealthy mayonnaise, it took a while to find a substitute that really tasted good, but eventually the refrigerated case in the health food store provided the perfect one, an alternative that was not only healthier than the bad old stuff, but even much more delicious.
So now to the real feature; I had begun to realize that the heart of a good BLT is actually its tomato. All the trimmings of a prize BLT, now I see, exist to celebrate the great tomatoes of Summer. That would be why to decorate additionally with a little feta cheese, or some fresh basil leaves. Therefore, the organic produce department is our final stop in getting ready to create a long-awaited, mouth-wateringly memorable BLT. Here one can select the biggest, most beautiful and lovingly produced tomato, and the deepest green leaf lettuce, pack them in our recycling shopping bag, and head home to assemble our own unique, full of love, appreciation, and celebration, absolutely perfect and delicious BLT.
Make one for someone you love!
Carol Venable is a natural health practitioner and spiritual counselor who has been steadily upgrading her diet for many years now, and may be a real raw foodist someday...
She can be contacted at holynamesmission@tds.net
This article was posted by Holy Names Mission
