Take BLTs To A New Level With One Extra Crunchy Veggie

Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches, or BLTs, are a staple summer meal, especially when those gorgeous heirloom or beefsteak tomatoes, the size of a grown man's fist, are ripe and in season. That said, BLTs make for a satisfying crunch any time of the year, thanks to the crispness of the bacon, the lettuce, and even the toasted bread. But you could add another layer of both flavor and texture with a common vegetable.

Add even more crunch to your next sandwich with the addition of sliced cucumber. You can leave the peel on (though it's better taken off), and you'll want to ensure the cuke is sliced super thin, so get out your mandoline. The reason paper-thin sliced cucumber works so well is that it adds another dimension of crunch (which won't tear up the roof of your mouth), while its mild, herbaceous flavor plays off the tomato and bacon without overpowering either.

Now, the cucumbers worked because they took a backseat to the tomato and bacon, but we're next going to propose cucumber that has been brined — also known as a pickle — which will actually command a lot more attention from your taste buds. Rather than fade into the general crunch of the sandwich, pickles add a satisfying snap to each bite. They'll fill your mouth with a flood of briny juices that play well off the salty-sweetness of the tomato, the mildness of the lettuce, and the meatiness of the bacon.

You could also swap out tomatoes — for tomatoes. Or rather, fried green tomatoes, made crispy and crunchy by coating them in egg and breadcrumbs and then giving them a pan fry. Green tomatoes, on account of their not being ripe yet, are naturally tart, which gives them quite a different flavor profile than their red (or yellow, or purple, etc.) counterparts. While there's no hint of sweetness about them, their robust sharpness complements the other savory elements of the sandwich.