Swap The Tomatoes For Pickles With Your Next BLT Sandwich

Being experimental and changing up how you prepare a dish in simple ways is the best way to free yourself from the same old food routine. Variety is the spice of life, after all. A recent viral Instagram video from home chef Megan Sheley is a prime example, as it shows her elevating an ordinary BLT into a dish with a personality of its own. 

This isn't a something you can order on a menu, which is a shame when you think about how sandwiches always taste better from the deli. However, you can recreate the dish at home by following Sheley's lead. She isn't simply swapping tomatoes for pickles and calling it a day with this BLP. By taking arguably the most humdrum component of the sandwich — the lettuce — and turning it on its head by creating a tasty slaw, she's really creating a whole new dish. 

In her video, Sheley showcases a heavy-handed use of dill in the lettuce mix, which undoubtedly compliments the tangy dill pickles standing in for tomatoes. The red onions in the slaw impart a bitterness that wakes the sandwich up, and the pickles add a complementary contrast of texture and flavor that the typical hero of the BLT can't deliver. Rarely seen combined with bacon, pickles and dill are commonly paired together in a plethora of vegetarian sandwiches. Plenty of other ingredients used in veggie sandwiches could easily replace tomatoes in a BLT, providing an interesting twist on this humble meal.

The crisp, crunchy mouthfeel you experience from biting into a pickle can be mimicked with freshly sliced, un-pickled cucumbers. Cucumbers and dill are a classic combination used together in salads and sandwiches alike, so the same slaw that Sheley makes in her video would be a perfect complement to the veg. It will also pleasantly contrast with the savory bacon on the bottom layer of bread, but with less pickle bite.

Almost everyone has heard of the BLAT with bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato, but if red rounds aren't your thing, consider setting them aside and making a BLA (which is anything but blah). This is another tomato swap that wouldn't require doing anything different with the way the slaw is created in Sheley's video because the potent, earthy dill will liven up the rich, creamy avocado and make for a burst of bright flavors from the first bite to the last. 

You can even keep the avocados from sliding around by mashing them before stacking them on the bacon. But you may feel like you are missing out on the tart sweetness of the tomato these variations take away. If this is the case, elevating the star of the sandwich may be the best way to get creative with a BLT.

The BLP has opened peoples' eyes to the wealth of potential a BLT truly has, and for those who like to be adventurous in the kitchen, the possibilities for different versions of this classic sandwich are nearly endless. One straightforward way to elevate the hero of the BLT is to marinate the tomatoes. A simple marinade with olive oil and red wine vinegar will do the trick, or you could go for something with a little more personality and add garlic and balsamic vinegar to the mix. Let the veggies sit in the marinade for two hours, and then construct the rest of the sandwich however you normally make it. 

Another way to keep your BLT variation closer to the standard interpretation is to swap out the raw tomatoes for their sundried counterparts mixed into a pesto. After mixing up some oil, basil, parmesan, and sun-dried tomatoes (with the oil from their jar), slather it on your bread of choice in place of fresh toms. Top that with Fontina cheese and peppered bacon, finishing it with a layer of fresh spinach and garlic mayo. It's a gourmet rendition of a humble classic that will get your taste buds excited, and it is one great way to break yourself out of a sandwich rut.