Whenever I take a road trip that is longer than a three-day weekend, I pack a box of non-perishables from Ann Arbor grocery stores and markets. I don't like being forced to eat out at every meal, which can ring up a vacation tab mighty fast.

This year I went to Trader Joe's the day before we left and loaded up on reasonably healthy munchies (those mixed veggie tortilla chips are good for you, right?), good cheeses, crackers and sandwich bread.

Their pre-sliced Asiago-Pepper Bread, toasted, is a particularly delicious bread for making BLT's, and we are in the height of tomato season. I also substituted arugula for lettuce yet heard no complaints from the BLT traditionalist (i.e. white bread and iceburg) contingency.

Another favorite less-than-classic BLT is my recipe for Fried Green Tomato BLT; more time consuming but certainly worth the effort.

Yield: 2 (large) sandwiches
Time: 5 minutes (not including time to fry bacon)

Ingredients

4 slices Trader Joe's Asiago-Pepper Bread, toasted
2 tablespoons Hellman's mayonnaise
4-6 pieces fried bacon
1 large tomato, sliced and lightly seasoned with kosher salt and ground pepper
1 cup arugula, washed

Directions

1. Lay toasted bread on a clean work surface and spread one side of each piece of bread with mayonnaise. Arrange bacon, sliced tomato and arugula on bread and serve.