BLT Pasta Salad

I don't know about you guys, but it's been HOT all week here.  I'm talking weather advisories, can barely breathe when you go outside, need multiple pairs of underwear in one day hot.  We normally get heat waves like this, but only for a few days, not a week at a time.  There's supposed to be some big thunderstorms this weekend so hopefully that will cool things down a bit.

In the meantime, it's way too hot to cook.  But... I still need to eat!  I've been seeing a few different variations of this BLT salad on Pinterest and decided to make my own.  It's delicious and the pasta makes it more filling than a regular salad. 

Okay, so you do have to do a little bit of cooking for the bacon and the pasta (yes, it's been too hot to even boil water), but I promise you it's worth it.  I made a huge bowl of this and have been tweaking it every day so that I don't get sick of it, and it just keeps getting better as the flavors get to know each other better.

Plus, I like this recipe because it's easy to adapt and add or remove things you don't like without totally changing the flavors.

Joe's not a huge salad person, but he loved this one! Although to be fair, I think he'd eat anything as long as it involved bacon.  No real recipe for this one, since it's pretty simple: romaine lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, red onion, pasta of your choice.  Toss is all together.  If you know it's all going to be eaten, top with ranch dressing in the bowl.  Otherwise, serve in individual-sized bowls and top with dressing.  As you can see from the photos, to mix it up, I also added some corn and some shredded chicken.  Yum!

If you try this, let me know what you think!

Big Mac Salad

First, some business to take care of: I've added a pinterest widget so that images can be pinned.  The button comes up when you hover over the images.  I've noticed that the hover option only works on photos that I've uploaded through Blogger only, not if I've also posted them through Photobucket.  I'm not going to go back and edit every post, but if there's something you really want to pin, let me know!

A couple of years ago, Joe ended up getting me a free cookbook at one of the tradeshows he went to for work: Hungry Girl 300 Under 300.  Basically, "Hungry Girl" is a regular lady named Lisa who likes to eat real food that tastes good but that is also healthy/healthier for you.  I haven't tried even close to all of the recipes yet, but all of the ones we've tried so far have been really good.

As the weather starts getting warmer, we like to lighten up our dinner options - big salads and big sandwiches are popular in this house.  Now, I LOVE a good salad, but sometimes the standard lettuce-cucumber-onions-carrots gets a little boring (note: I really don't like tomatoes).  I was flipping through my cookbook one night looking for inspiration, and came across this recipe.  Now, Hungry Girl actually has it named something completely different, but Joe and I both thought a more accurate and easier description was Big Mac Salad.

If you've ever been the Golden Arches and had a regular Big Mac, this salad has all of the same flavors but not nearly as many calories.  Admittedly, my version uses real beef - not soy crumbles, as the recipe calls for - increasing the amount of calories, but the flavors and taste are still there.  Also, you don't hate yourself and feel disgusting after you eat my version.

Even more important than all of that, though, is that I got my fiancee (still getting used to calling him that) to eat salad for dinner!  Two bowls!  Willingly and without complaint!

There was a little bit leftover that I brought to work with me for lunch. I crushed up some sweet potato tortilla chips for some extra crunch and HOLY COW it was the perfect combination!  Joe had suggested maybe putting in some french fries too, to really give it that fast food-y taste.  I think you'll accomplish the same thing if you add something a little healthier like potato sticks or tortilla chips.  Crushed up regular potato chips would probably work too.

Either way, this salad is really delicious, but also really filling - the perfect combination!

Big Mac Salad
Recipe adapted from Hungry Girl

Ingredients:
1 medium-size head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
2 dill pickles, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 lb. hamburger, browned and drained
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 Tbsp. ketchup
cheddar cheese 
Thousand Island dressing


Directions:
Cook hamburger in a skillet.  Drain.  Place in a bowl and let cool to room temperature.  Once cool, mix in ketchup and mustard and set aside.  

Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to high heat on the stove. Add onion and cook until slightly browned and softened, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the large bowl and set aside. 

Combine all ingredients except dressing in a large bowl.  Mix thoroghly.  Serve in individual bowls topped with Thousand Island dressing.