Today's tip: Doctoring

OK, let's say you were making a chicken sandwich with mayo. Put the mayo in a little bowl and stir in some cayenne pepper or tabasco. And some paprika. And maybe a little onion or garlic powder. Not too much, but a nice touch. It should look different than mayo.

Or say you have a salad and some Ranch dressing. Definitely add a couple of dashes of tabasco to the dressing. Or maybe some fresh-ground pepper. And some paprika, preferably smoked paprika, which tastes like bacon.

And I don't care what people say against salt, nothing makes lettuce taste better than salt, unless it's maybe butter. Oh, but those people don't like butter, either.

Play with your food!

Peaches and Greek yogurt

Get a ripe peach. Slice it.
Get some Greek yogurt.
Layer them.
If you have to, add some sugar or honey.
Done.

BLT minus L plus cheese! And broiled

Summer on a plate! Thanks to my friend Dennis, who went to the Farmers Market and the really good butcher shop, I have wonderful tomatoes and wonderful bacon. This is what we made for supper in Indiana when I was growing up and Dad's tomatoes were all getting ripe at once. I've "fancied it up" a little, but they're good even if you use regular bacon and regular bread and even Velveeta.

I used:
Two slices of sprouted wheat bread
a couple of ounces of good Gruyere cheese
two slices of phenomenal bacon
two slices of a big, vine-ripened tomato (you can tell because they smell like tomatoes should)

Lightly toast the bread so the bottom will also be crunchy.
Broil the bacon on its own so it will be perfect.
Slice the cheese as thin as you can so it will melt fast.
Put the tomato on the slightly toasted bread and add the cheese. I like to slide a little cheese under the tomato slice to cover the edges of the bread.
Broil until the cheese is melty.
Top with the bacon and a little chopped basil.

This is garnished with arugula and avocado just because I happened to have them. I put a little salt on them. The sandwich doesn't really need salt because of the bacon and cheese.

What happened to the rest of the tomato? Well, I had to do something while I was watching the broiler. A little salt, a little basil . . . mmmm.

Sometimes we also add a thin slice of onion. It goes under the tomato. Just because.