About a week ago I was sent to the store to pick up dinner. Tired of take-out, I was on a mission to feed my family an easy Friday night dinner. So I packed Lil up and headed to Publix to see what easy food fare I could find. As we walked around the store in a haphazard manner, I was struck uninspired. Most of the convenience foods are packed with nasty chemicals that I try to avoid and I was at a loss; til I saw that vine-ripened tomatoes were on sale. This is when the foodie synapses in my brain started firing: what can I make to utilize these ruby-red savory fruits. Inspiration struck and I realized I could make bacon-lettuce-spinach sandwiches with soup.
The basic BLT is always a winner in my house, even if my husband and daughter refuse to eat raw tomatoes. I like classing it up by using baby spinach in lieu of lettuce. And even though I was looking for easy food fair, I knew plain old bread wasn't going to cut it for these sandwiches. Even if it is an easy favorite, I wanted to make it special. So after grabbing my tomatoes and spinach, I raced over to the bakery department fervent with inspiration to grab a loaf of fresh-baked sourdough bread, then onto the meat section for center-cut bacon. Heading back to the produce section, I grabbed some herbs to make herbed mayo as the condiment. The vision of my dinner was forming fast and I was almost done with my shopping trip til I realized I was clueless as to what soup I could make as an accompaniment. Hitting a peak of inspiration, I grabbed fresh tortellinis and chicken stock to make tortellini soup, a favorite of mine growing up that I now make for my family (Hi Mom!).
Simple and easy, this dinner was definitely a crowd pleaser. Perfectly grilled sourdough bread complemented the fragrant basil-chive mayo, tender baby spinach, salty bacon and earthy tomatoes. Accompanied by the tortellini soup, this made for a dinner which shined in it's simplicity. The tortellini soup was such a hit that my daughter begged me to save her left-overs for next-day's lunch.
Next time you go grocery shopping, allow yourself to be inspired by whatever tickles your fancy and let your creativity be your guide when you are creating your menu. You just might surprise yourself with what you come up with!
Vine tomatoes are so yummy. I haven't had a BLT in a long time. It seems like all the sandwich shops I go to are all about panini's or fancy stuff. :/ I like it simple!
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