BLT Salad with a Creamy Meyer Lemon Avocado Dressing

Every perfect spring morning should start with the smell of bacon filling your kitchen. Some people think that fresh morning rain or the smell of wildflowers means spring is finally here. No. Those people are wrong. Really spring has dawned bright when you can sit out on your patio furniture in the morning sunshine, not freeze your ass off and inhale this bacon-filled salad for brunch.

I saw the first robin of spring this morning out of our back window. It may be still halfway through February but our mountains think it’s springtime. Our peach tree is beginning to sprout baby green buds. These fifty-four degree days in February have Mother Nature very confused. I find it a little annoying, personally. I love cold snowy winter days. Today I wore snow boots and shorts while out hiking trails with the pup and that just seems wrong, not to mention confusing.

One reminder that spring is on the horizon is the return of Meyer Lemons to the grocery aisle. I simply adore sweet Meyer Lemons and if we lived anywhere lower then 6,000 feet in elevation, where we don’t get a deep freeze well into May every year, I would definitely have a Meyer Lemon tree of my own. But instead, we live in this snowy forest with miles of trails for the pup to run. We can grow the best apples, peaches and pumpkins at this altitude but I have to buy the freshest Meyer lemons and avocados at Sprouts or Whole Foods when I make it to the city.

It’s that time of year where I basically want to add Meyer lemons to everything. Meyer lemons, a hybrid of a lemon and an orange are so delicious and so damn seasonal. I mean half the time when I buy a bag at Trader Joe’s I have to use them that day before they get to soft. But I don’t care. For one month, usually in February, I may be freezing my ass off in our snowy mountain town but Meyer lemon juice brings a hint of springtime zest to my salads and muffins.

If it’s February or march then I am adding sweet Meyer lemon juice to pretty much everything. Meyer lemon juice makes this zesty salad dressing. This dressing is good, I swear you won’t even miss the bread!

BLT salad with a Creamy Meyer Lemon Avocado Dressing

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 head green leaf lettuce, chopped

1 cup chopped heirloom tomatoes

2 avocados, cut into bite-size pieces

Creamy Meyer Lemon Avocado Dressing

Juice of 2 Meyer lemons

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1/2 a ripe avocado

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon salt

Combine all dressing ingredients in a nutribullet until smooth.

Dress the salad and serve.