Alternative BLT

The beautiful thing about not being in school and thus a recipient of a summer holiday is that summer begins when you choose. I chose May 2, the date of my departure to Africa. Now that it's summer, I can do things like go to the Farmer's Market, do the Taco Ride and eat tomatoes. I know this tomato was grown in a greenhouse. I know. But I couldn't resist.

My original plan was to make an avocado-chicken dish using this tomato, but when I finally finished gardening at 8 p.m. I was ready to eat, stat. And whenever hunger takes ahold of me like that I make poached eggs and douse them with salt and pepper. This is a variation on the BLT that replaces bacon with eggs, the only thing better would be a BELT. The sandwich is super easy to make, the hardest part is eating it.

Egg-Lettuce-Tomato Sandwich

To poach an egg, heat about 2 cups of water in a skillet. Add to cracked eggs to the water before it is boiling, being careful not to break the yokes. The eggs should be about half submerged in water. Cover the skillet to allow the steam from the simmering water to cook the top of the eggs. I like my eggs over easy. To get perfect consistency, remove the eggs from the heat and the skillet once the bright yellow of the raw egg turns a foggy yellow color. This means that the thin layer of egg white on top of the yolk has been cooked.

To make the sandwich, toast bread and top with lettuce, tomato and poached egg. Finish off with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.