This Light and Healthy BLT Salad is a delicious twist on a favorite diner classic.
We’re officially halfway through January. Are your resolutions holding up? I hope yours are going better than mine! I’m finding it pretty difficult to limit the sugar right now, because while it may be healthy January, I’m eyeballs deep in Valentine’s Day recipe testing (spoiler: I’ve got some really good ones coming up for you).
Let’s just say there have been indiscretions with cinnamon rolls that if you follow me on Twitter , you are probably already privy to… And it’s a fact of life that it’s a lot harder to find people to pawn sweets off on in January than it is in December! Anyways, enough my sugar intake, on to the salad.
We’re in week three of our salad series. We’ve had a Garlic Chicken Cobb Salad , a Simply Delicious Asian Chicken Salad , and now you’re getting a healthy BLT Salad! Guys, this salad is so good AND you can make it 100% in advance, so it’s so convenient for nights you know are going to be crazy busy or as a delicious brown bag lunch.
It’s basically a deconstructed BLT sandwich. You have your B-bacon, crumbled throughout. The L-it’s a salad, so that’s obvious. T-tomatoes, you can use whatever kind you like and jam this thing full of them. And the BEST part, is you turn the bread into homemade croutons cooked in bacon grease.
Yes, you heard me. You toast those babies up in the leftover bacon grease and they are as amazing as it sounds. Top the whole thing off with a light mayo dressing (all the deliciousness, a fraction of the calories) and you’ve got yourself an American diner classic, minus the diner and the guilt!
Have you read my post The Fastest, Easiest Way to Cut Romaine for Salads ? It’s my very favorite kitchen hack ever!
Ingredients
Salad
- ▢ 4 strips of bacon cut into 1-inch pieces
- ▢ 4 slices french or sourdough bread cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- ▢ 1 large head romaine lettuce chopped
- ▢ 2-3 tomatoes chopped
- ▢ Kosher salt to taste
Dressing
- ▢ 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- ▢ 2 tablespoons milk
- ▢ 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- ▢ 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Bacon & Croutons
- In a large skillet, over medium to medium-high heat, cook bacon until crispy. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the grease.
- If there is too much grease in the pan for you, you can pour some of it off. You only need about 2 tablespoons to toast your croutons, but the bread will soak it up whatever’s there, so you can leave as much as you want. Add bread and cook on medium heat until brown and toasted. Stir frequently, making sure not to let your croutons burn. Remove from heat.
Dressing
- In a small bowl or mason jar, stir together mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, and pepper.
Assemble
- Just before serving, combine lettuce, tomatoes, cooked bacon, croutons, and dressing in a large bowl and toss until everything is coated in the dressing. Divide and serve with a sprinkle of salt over the top. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutritional Information Adapted from: The Splendid Table
This Easy Chicken Cacciatore is boneless, skinless chicken thighs and mushrooms simmered in a rich tomato sauce and served over a bed of egg noodles for a fabulous weeknight meal.
Looking for more easy pasta dishes? Try my Creamy Chicken Pasta With Bell Peppers and Chicken Asparagus Pasta for Two .
Chicken cacciatore is one of my mom’s best dishes (her Carrot Cake is another of them). Growing up, nights when we got to have it for dinner were a big deal. We were a busy family, and her recipe involved digging out the giant electric skillet, cutting up an entire chicken, and waiting for what seemed like hours for that to cook.
So between all the soccer games, play rehearsals, lessons, etc. of my childhood, we didn’t often have time for homemade chicken cacciatore, but when we did, it was happy times for all!
When I moved away to go to college, I think I tried the original recipe twice before I declared it too much work for one person. It took too long, and it never tasted quite like Mom’s. But a while back, I had a hankering to give this childhood favorite another try.
After a little tinkering, not only did I take most of the work out of the recipe, but I think I’ve managed to improve on the original (sorry, Mom!). This Easy Chicken Cacciatore has gone from a weekend-only meal involving the dismembering of a dead animal to a quick and simple-to-prepare dinner, perfect for busy weeknights.
No longer must you cut up an entire chicken or dig out a giant electric skillet to cook it all in! This version uses boneless skinless chicken thighs, which means no cutting, the meat all fits in one pan, AND it lightens up the dish considerably. The prep takes all of 15 minutes and once you get the sauce simmering, it’s almost completely hands off until it’s time to eat.
If you’ve never had chicken cacciatore before, you’re in for a treat. The long (but not too long!) low simmer with the white wine and brandy (optional if you don’t have it around) makes the chicken thighs fall-apart tender and gives the entire dish a deep and wonderful richness you wouldn’t expect from something that contains no heavy cream or cheese.
And bonus, this is one healthy meal. Serve with a side of steamed broccoli and you have an entire dinner for under 500 calories.
I make this all the time on weeknights, but it’s also really fabulous if you have guests coming over. This dish is practically full-proof since it’s simmered in liquid for a set time (you’d have to try real hard to burn/over/under cook this chicken), and like with my Bacon and Feta Stuffed Chicken , your house will smell soooooooooooo good while it’s cooking.
Accompany it with some nice crusty bread and hearty vegetable side, and I guarantee you will have happy guests who are begging you for this Easy Chicken Cacciatore recipe when the night is over.
More Easy Pasta Dishes
- Creamy Sausage Pasta
- Buttered Noodles
- Chicken and Broccoli Orzo
- Baked Ziti
Ingredients
Dredge
- ▢ 4 large boneless skinless chicken thighs *
- ▢ 1/2 cup ( 60g ) all-purpose flour mixed with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Brown
- ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ▢ 2 tablespoons diced green onions shallot or onion may also be used
- ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
Simmer
- ▢ 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- ▢ 2 cups ( 1 14.5-ounce can) chicken broth
- ▢ 2 cups ( 8 oz) mushrooms sliced
- ▢ 1/2 cup dry white wine*
- ▢ 2 tablespoons brandy or 1/4 cup Muscatel optional
Sprinkle
- ▢ 1 bay leaf
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon basil
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon thyme
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Boil
- ▢ 8 ounces egg noodles
Instructions
- Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, coating completely.
- Heat oil in a large skillet (with a lid) over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the chicken. Brown the first side and flip. After you have flipped the chicken, add the green onions and garlic to the pan between the thighs and brown, being careful not to let the garlic burn (if it starts to burn, add a little of the chicken broth to the pan right away).
- While the chicken and garlic are browning, spread a large dollop of tomato paste over each of the thighs, using the entire can. Once everything is browned, pour the chicken broth over the top, and add mushrooms, white wine, brandy, bay leaf, salt, basil, thyme, and pepper. When you add the spices, try to sprinkle them as evenly over the whole dish as possible.
- Bring to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure all of the mushrooms are cooking in the sauce and nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. If the cooking liquid is still very soupy after 15 minutes, simmer uncovered for the remaining time. The dish is done when chicken is tender and sauce is thickened.
- While chicken cooks, bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. I usually start boiling water once the chicken begins to simmer and dump the pasta in when there are 7 minutes or so left on the timer.
- Divide pasta and cover with chicken and sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutritional Information Adapted from: Joy of Cooking
A completely homemade copycat Starbucks Caramel Macchiato recipe. Easy to make from scratch and absolutely delicious!
The photos in this post have been updated. Don’t worry. You’re in the right place. 😉
Some of the recipes I post go through careful planning and consideration before they come forth into the world. Some are complete accidents. This is one of the latter.
While the family was all together for the holidays, I made caramel sauce for one of our pies and had a ton left over. I hate wasting food, so I started putting it on everything, including my mom’s morning coffee.
My mother, being a huge Starbucks fan took one sip and said, “Hey, this is better than Starbucks!” And thus, this post was born.
To be 100% honest, my Starbucks drink of choice is their white chocolate mocha , but I did try one of their caramel macchiatos just so I could compare the two, and I definitely prefer this one. I find the homemade flavors a little brighter, a little stronger.
Plus, YOU can control the level of sweetness which is always my biggest beef with Starbucks drinks.
And I know this doesn’t technically qualify as an authentic macchiato because it simply uses cream instead of foamed milk and strong black coffee rather than espresso, but Starbucks plurals their panini “paninis,” so they’re not exactly a paragon of Italian authenticity either. 😉
This recipe is both wonderful and terrible because you are not limited by whether or not you have caramel sauce at home to make it. You whip up the caramel yourself in five minutes flat. So if you keep heavy cream on hand (which I do), you can make these any time you feel like it (which I definitely shouldn’t).
The finished product has a robust caramel flavor but isn’t too artificially sweet the way so many caramel creamers are. It’s delicious. It’s amazing. It’s better than Starbucks.
And if you are looking for more tasty coffee drinks, try my Pumpkin Spice Latte (Two Ways!) , Eggnog Latte , Easy Homemade Mocha , and White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha .
Ingredients
Caramel Sauce
- ▢ 2 tablespoons ( 1 oz) unsalted butter
- ▢ 1/4 cup heavy cream
- ▢ 1/4 cup ( 50 g) packed brown sugar
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Coffee
- ▢ 1 cup of your favorite strong black coffee very hot
- ▢ 1-3 teaspoons sugar*
- ▢ 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- ▢ Whipped cream optional
Instructions
Caramel Sauce
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add heavy cream, brown sugar, and salt. Stir well.
- Bring to a gentle simmer and allow to cook for 4 minutes, until thickened, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and mix in vanilla. Transfer to a mason jar with a lid for storage.
Mix
- Stir coffee, 1 tablespoon of the caramel, sugar, and cream together. Taste and add more sugar if needed.
- Top with whipped cream and another drizzle of caramel if desired.
- Drink and enjoy that $4.50 you just saved yourself.
Notes
Nutritional Information (1 tablespoon sugar, no whipped cream) Caramel adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Small-batch Information: This sauce can be a little tricky to cook in a small batch because it very easily overcooks and becomes hard candy. But if you watch it like a hawk, you can halve it and cook for 3-4 minutes. I wouldn’t try quartering.
Original photography, circa 2016.
Light and Healthy BLT Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 4 strips of bacon cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 slices french or sourdough bread cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 large head romaine lettuce chopped
- 2-3 tomatoes chopped
- Kosher salt to taste
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Bacon & Croutons
- In a large skillet, over medium to medium-high heat, cook bacon until crispy. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the grease.
- If there is too much grease in the pan for you, you can pour some of it off. You only need about 2 tablespoons to toast your croutons, but the bread will soak it up whatever’s there, so you can leave as much as you want. Add bread and cook on medium heat until brown and toasted. Stir frequently, making sure not to let your croutons burn. Remove from heat.
Dressing
- In a small bowl or mason jar, stir together mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, and pepper.
Assemble
- Just before serving, combine lettuce, tomatoes, cooked bacon, croutons, and dressing in a large bowl and toss until everything is coated in the dressing. Divide and serve with a sprinkle of salt over the top. Enjoy!
