BLT Cucumber Boats

It's been a busy week or so around here. We spent most of last week in Missouri visiting family and every day this week I've spent much of my time preserving peaches and making pickles. We brought home a box of Missouri peaches and Sunday when we got back into town, I made my way out to a local farm to pick up two more boxes of peaches I had ordered from Michigan. After sharing a little bit with my sister in-laws, I'm guessing I still had a good 70 pounds to put up for winter. I've canned peach slices, made jam, cobbler topping and even salsa. Today I finished up freezing slices and stuck a few mini pies in the freezer. Oh and it's been hot! I'm ready to relax a little bit this weekend and enjoy the much cooler temperatures.

My garden hasn't been as successful this year as I had hoped. We did end up with a decent harvest of lettuce and peas early on, the squirrels got to the strawberries, my broccoli never did produce, same with bell peppers (I have the darnedest time with those!). I'm still hoping I'll get some zucchini to grow since I had to replant. But my tomatoes have done great, especially the cherry. And my garden is currently being taken over by watermelon vines. It's our first year trying this fruit and we're excited to see how it turns out. I spotted three tiny little babies in there, the girls will be thrilled if they end up growing well.

Right now meals are simple, and based largely around what's coming out of the garden or what we're bringing home from the farmers' market. I find myself trying to add tomatoes to just about every single meal. It also happens to be prime BLT season and we tried a little twist on this classic sandwich recently. I mixed up a light bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo topping and stuffed it right into a cucumber that I simply scooped the middle out of. It was simply delicious and a nice lightened way to enjoy this favorite summer meal. You can try substituting a Greek yogurt if you'd like, but I figured if I was already skipping the bread, the mayonnaise wasn't such a big deal.

You really don't need a recipe per say to follow for a dish like this, but for those of you that feel more comfortable following one I've given precise measurements. Feel free to adjust as necessary. Enjoy this light summer meal while you've got tons of fresh produce around!


BLT Cucumber Boats

Ingredients:
2 medium cucumbers
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped lettuce
1/4 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Slice cucumber in half length wise, taking a spoon, scoop out the middle and discard. Set cucumber halves aside.

In a small bowl, mix together cooked and crumbled bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings if needed, add additional mayonnaise if desired.

Top each cucumber half with bacon mixture. Serve immediately.