I haven't had a BLT in years, and I'm not sure why.  It's such a delicious combo!  I decided to dial up the flavors by using herb focaccia bread, and a splash of balsamic vinegar to add some tang and sweetness.  Earlier this year, my husband and I went biking in the hills of Sonoma, and we stopped at a wonderful market with absolutely delicious gourmet sandwiches. I think the secret was their generous use of balsamic vinegar, so I decided to try it on a BLT.  What a party of flavors!  You have to try it.  If you're nervous about trying balsamic vinegar on a sandwich, then try adding a little mustard.  I really think it adds a nice dimension to the traditional BLT, which uses just mayonnaise.  And if you're using regular sandwich bread, try adding some slices of basil for some fresh herbal aroma.

Since this sandwich has such few ingredients, try to use the best you can find.  Fresh ripe tomatoes are a must.  Good bacon is essential too.  Trader Joe's has many varieties of bacon, and they're all uncured.  Why uncured?  It means they're free of nitrates or nitrites.  I used their turkey bacon, which is 97% fat free.  In fact, I even dry-toasted my bread in the same pan I used to cook the bacon (which only took a few minutes, by the way), that's how little grease was left in the pan.  They also sell fully cooked bacon for those that can't be bothered to cook bacon, and there's vegetarian imitation bacon in the freezer case.  Finally, I used red and green oak lettuce, but any lettuce would be good.

Wikipedia says the BLT is the 2nd most popular sandwich in the U.S.  And that got me wondering, just out of curiosity, what's the 1st most popular sandwich?  I couldn't find the answer, but I'm guessing it could be the hamburger or the trusty peanut butter & jelly.  If you know the answer, please let me know!

Turkey BLT Sandwich

For each sandwich:
1 piece Herb Focaccia bread, cut in half horizontally, or 2 slices bread of your choice
3 slices turkey bacon, or bacon of your choice
Lettuce leaves
3-4 slices tomato
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp mayonnaise

1. Cook bacon according to package instructions.  Toast bread, if desired.
2. Spread vinegar on one of the slices of bread. Then spread mayonnaise on both slices.
3. Assemble sandwich by layering the bacon, lettuce, and tomato between the bread slices.