In less than 3 months, Marc and I are packing our 60 liter backpacks full of dried food, a water purifier, one change of clothes, a First Aid kit, bug spray, sleeping pads, and our new 3 pound tent (see below) and hitting the trail. The John Muir Trail. What is the John Muir Trail, you’re wondering? It’s a 219 mile trail that travels from Yosemite Valley south to Mount Whitney and we’re gonna hike the whole dang thing. That’s a lot of together time for Marc and I. Lucky guy. (side note: if you’re interested in seeing a little trailer of a video some awesome people made of the JMT, check this outdone by the John Muir Project’s Mile Mile and a Half).
While I am super stoked for our trip, I’m a little nervous about the food situation. I have a feeling I’m going to be hungry the whole time and after our trail I will never want to look at trail mix, macaroni and cheese, or any other dehydrated meal ever again after our trip. Luckily, I have obtained a food dehydrator from Marc’s mom (thanks, Jan!) in an attempt to dehydrate some tasty meals. I’ll likely be posting them on here in case anyone else is interested.
One thing I’m going to really miss in July is sweet corn and BLT’s. This is my all-time favorite summer meal and July is typically my peak consumption due to the abundance of sweet corn. Since I’m going to need to make up for this deficit, I decided to start early with my BLT’s – in salad form!
We ate these for dinner on Sunday night and even though Marc scrunched up his nose (in the cutest way possible) when he heard we were eating salad for dinner, he ended up loving it.
Basically, I took the ingredients of a BLT, minus the bread, and threw it into a salad. I also added one of my favorite BLT additions, avocado, and some feta cheese because if it’s gonna be a salad, I need me some cheese. And THENNNN I went even farther and roasted some corn (I just used frozen corn) in the oven, to achieve that crispiness I love when I can grill my sweet corn in the summer, and threw that on the salad too.
To top off the salad, I made a simple yogurt-based dressing (with a little mayo for creaminess) filled with lots of chopped herbs. I used dill, chives, and parsley, but you could really use whatever herbs you have sprouting up in your herb garden.
You guys, it is like summer in a salad. I love love love it and just might eat this and only this until our trip.
Ingredients
for the salad:
- 1 1/2 cups corn fresh or frozen, cooked
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6-8 slices bacon cooked and diced
- 1 avocado sliced
- 3 hearts of romaine washed and chopped
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes diced
- 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
for the dressing:
- 6 oz plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise I used olive oil mayo
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh dill chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tbsp chives or green onions chopped
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2-4 tbsp milk depending on how thick/thin you want it
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
To make the salad:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Line baking sheet with foil or just spray with cooking spray.
- Toss corn in 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Place on baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
- Meanwhile, you can make the dressing, cook the bacon, chop the lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado.
To make the dressing:
- Combine all ingredients and whisk well to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To assemble:
- Fill salad bowls evenly with lettuce.
- Top with crumbled cooked bacon, chopped tomatoes, roasted corn, sliced avocado, and crumbled feta cheese.
- Drizzle with dressing.
- Enjoy!
Welcome to greens & chocolate! I'm Taylor and am so excited that you stopped by! I'm a Minnesota girl in my 20's who's loving life with my husband Marc, our son Lars, and our Golden Retriever Maddie. I love cooking healthy meals, but it's essential that I have my dessert. All after a hot yoga class or a run, though! It's all about moderation here at greens & chocolate. 
Anything BLT is a win in my books! But a salad with a delish herb yogurt dressing?! COUNT ME IN!
First, this salad looks amazing! Colorful, flavorful and filling, Yum!
Second, SO exciting about your upcoming trip, I’m equal parts jealous and nervous for you! 🙂 we love to hike and want to do a backpack trip, but the dehydrated food makes me SO NERVOUS!! I’m a huge fan of fresh fruit and veggies, as I know you are, too! BUT, this will be so great and completely unforgettable, good luck!!!
Your trip sounds amazing, Taylor! can’t wait to hear all about it. And this BLT chopped salad sounds perfect for lunch!
Taylor, your upcoming trip sounds so exciting, my husband and I would love to take a trip like that! And this BLT chopped salad looks amazing, perfect for a BBQ for the summer! Pinned 🙂
Thanks Jenn! We are super excited 🙂
I’d eat this, hands down, yum!!
This salad looks devine! I just subscribed to your blog because I just have to have updates about your trip. 219 miles? Oh my aching back! Have fun and be safe!
Kathi
Love how colorful this salad is! I’m also a big fan of avocado in BLTs, so they’d be a must for me in this salad, too.
That’s so awesome about your summer plans. It sounds like such an adventure!
such an awesome adventure!!! can’t wait to hear about it! and this salad sounds awesome…I recently made a fun BLT themed salad that we’re loving!
Wow, so excited for your trip, it sounds amazing Taylor! Can’t wait to hear more about it 🙂 Love this BLT salad and the dressing – perfect for any summer BBQ or picnic!
Thanks Kelly!
I’m curious about the dressing – 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons?
Hi Belinda, It should just be 2 tablespoon of olive oil! Sorry about that!