This is a salad to make while tomatoes are still at their summer best. It has everything you love about a BLT, crispy bacon, sweet cherry tomatoes, and torn basil, plus toasted sourdough croutons and a tangy goat cheese dressing. It is filling, easy, and comes together fast.

Ingredients

For the salad

3 strips bacon, chopped
2 cups sourdough bread, torn into bite-size pieces
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 head lettuce, washed and torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
A few sprigs of basil, torn
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

For the dressing

4 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions

Heat the oven to 425F (220C). Cook the chopped bacon in a large cast-iron or ovenproof skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate and reserve the bacon grease in the skillet.
Add the torn bread to the skillet with the bacon grease, adding a little olive oil if needed. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat.
Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the bread is toasted and crisp, about 15 to 18 minutes, tossing once or twice.
In a large salad bowl, combine the torn lettuce, red onion, basil, and cherry tomatoes.
Top with the crispy bacon and toasted croutons.
For the dressing, blend the goat cheese, buttermilk, honey, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss gently, and serve right away.

Grower's tip: A BLT lives or dies on the tomato. Let cherry tomatoes ripen fully on the vine, until they are deeply colored and give slightly to a squeeze, and water the plants deeply and evenly, since a sudden drink after a dry spell makes the fruit split.

You can grow the best parts of this salad. Sow a bed of lettuce, a few cherry tomato plants, and a pot of basil for a summer full of BLTs.

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