A Deconstructed BLT Salad with Arugula and Creamy Buttermilk Dressing

Deconstruct a BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) Sandwich and what to you get? The result is an absolutely knock-out salad; especially if you use an eclectric mix of ingredients including arugula, bacon, tomatoes and a creamy buttermilk salad dressing. Recently, we ate at the upscale restaurant, Sullivan’s Steak House, where a “BLT Salad” was offered on the menu featuring arugula as the salad green. My interest perked up, since I usually have a surplus of arugula growing in my winter Louisiana garden. Arugula is quite a peppery, tangy garden green and I wondered if it would overpower the Sullivan’s salad. But, I loved the salad and decided to make my own “BLT Salad” version at home. Here is my salad.

About Arugula

Arugula is an interesting salad green which is also known as “rocket salad.” Although it was brought to this country with early settlers, its popularity and availability is more recent — since the 1990s. The plant is native to the Mediterranean region. It goes back to ancient Rome and Egypt where it was known for it’s aphrodisiac properties.

Is arugula an herb or vegetable? You see it listed both ways. This leafy green plant is classified within the Brassicaceae plant family, which is the mustard family of flowering plants. That means that arugula is related to cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and radishes.

Nutritionally, arugula is packed with health benefits and nutrients like other vegetables in the cabbage family. Arugula is rich in Vitamin C, folic acid, Vitamin A and potassium. It contains plenty of antioxidants and phytonutrients. I usually eat only small servings of this green vegetable at any given time. However, every bit of nutritional value helps in our diet and this is certainly a nutrient-rich salad green.

Here is arugula growing in my garden. The plant makes a single stem with branching leaves and can become quite large. You pick off each leaf and the plant just makes more leaves. Sort of like “Energizer Batteries” which just keep going and going. However, if we have a hard freeze, then this plant is gone unless it is covered up.

In Louisiana, the time to plant arugula is in the fall — September or October — to harvest the greens in November and December. In my past gardens, one seed packet of arugula sprouted so many plants that I had more arugula than I could possibly use. Now, I usually just purchase eight or so small seedlings. You can also plant arugula seedlings in February or March, but as soon as hot weather arrives (late April and May) the plants “bolt” and go to seeds. Then the greens are very bitter tasting.

Sullivan’s Steak House BLT Salad

A visit to Sullivan’s Steak House is reserved for special occasions at our house such as birthdays and anniversaries. So for a recent special meal, we decided to try out this Texas steakhouse with its reputation for fine dining. It did provide great atmosphere and we enjoyed the meal. My steak was surperb and my husband enjoyed his salmon entree. I loved my margarita-inspired cockail. And the BLT Salad was unique. The best part of dining out is trying new dishes, in my opinion. And so, it was a memorable occasion. Here is Sullivan’s BLT Salad.

It is very easy to duplicate this arugula salad at home. Arugula is plentiful in the winter months. The other ingredients can be adapted to whatever is in your kitchen. I really like using “Creamy Buttermilk Dressing” on this salad as the dressing helps tone down the strong flavors of the salad. Thank’s to Sullivan’s for this idea.

Ingredients

For my BLT Salad, I’m including the ingredients found in a BLT sandwich and in the Sullivan’s Steak House salad plus a few extra ingredients. The main ingredients are arugula as the salad green, tomatoes and bacon. Plus, I’m including some homemade croutons. And I’ll add a few homemade pickles — both dill and bread & butter. (I always put pickles on my BLT sandwiches.) For good measure, I’ll add some green onions to the salad.

Buttermilk Salad Dressing

Sullivan’s Steak House uses a “Creamy Buttermilk Dressing” on their BLT salads and their “House Iceberg Wedge” Salads.The main ingredients in this dressing are olive oil, cultured buttermilk, mayonnaise, sour cream and lemon juice. The restaurant version includes blue cheese which makes a great optional ingredient. (I omitted the sugar in my final recipe as this made the dressing too, too sweet.) Plus, just a small amount of garlic is plenty. This ingredient can easily overpower the salad. If you don’t like specks of black pepper in your dressing, the pepper can always be added to the salad at the table.

To make the dressing, add all the ingredients to a small bowl. Use a wire whip or immersion blender to combine all the ingredients. I thought this might be a good opportunity to use by $3.99 milk frother from Hobby Lobby using the whisk attachment. Wrong, This inexpensive kitchen gadget did not have the power to blend the thick salad ingredients and instead I spent some time washing the splatters off my kitchen counter and wall.

Chill the dressing prior to using. Add either to the salad greens prior to serving or pass the salad dressing at the table.

Until our next milestone restaurant adventure, I’ll make “BLT Argula Salad” and “Creamy Buttermilk Dressing” at home. Both the salad and dressing are extremely simple and easy to make. The recipe is adaptable — use whatever ingredients and salad greens you have in your kitchen. This is ia good way to get some of that power-house leafy green, arugula, into our meals. Enjoy the salad and the salad dressing!

And since I am a history buff, I’ve included a paragraph about the inspiration behind the restaurant’s name, “Sullivan’s Steak House,” at the end of the blog post.

Lovin’ the margarita cocktail!

About the Sullivan’s Steak House Name

Sullivan’s Steak House is an upscale restaurant boasting 14 locations across the country. Founded in 1996, it features fine dining and premium hand-cut steaks, seafood and cocktails in an artfully lit, classy dining atmosphere. With the attitute that “every meal should pack a punch”, the restaurant is named after an American boxer, John L. Sullivan. Sullivan’s was owned by Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group which is an American steakhouse company headquartered in Irving, Texas.  In 2018, the steakhouse chain was sold to Romano’s Macaroni Grill.  Premiuim steaks and Texas…they seem to go together, don’t they?

I am a history buff and always like to know the background of my dining experiences. I was some what taken back by this history trivia regarding the boxer and I’m not sure what to make of it. John L. Sullivan is known as first champion heavyweight gloved American boxer. Also known as the Boston Strong Boy, Sullivan held the heavyweight title for about a decade. In 1889, he fought in the last bare-knuckle fight in history — a match that lasted 75 rounds. He won! John L. Sullivan was a talented man. However, I’m glad that boxing is now a regulated sport — and hopefully much more endearing to the contestants — as we understand the devastating physical consequenses of boxing. A 75-round match sounds like a brutal event, in my opinion. Looking back at one hundred-and-forty years ago, our country has changed. In this case, its a good thing.

The restaurant states, “Sullivan’s stature, bravery and unwillingness to be anything but the best is not only what stamped his name in the history books, but made him the perfect contender to champion our namesake.” (See References) All I can say is, this makes an interesting choice for a restaurant name.

References:

https://www.tastingtable.com/708653/everything-you-need-to-know-about-arugula/

https://hospitalitytech.com/romanos-macaroni-grill-buys-sullivans-steakhouse-32m-deal