I made Ina Garten's 'California BLT' and the easy sandwich was the perfect lunch

I've tried a number of Ina Garten recipes before, including her baked macaroni and cheese, shepherd's pie, and famous roast chicken. While those recipes were all delicious, they required some planning and had longer cook times than a simple sandwich.

I decided to try her BLT, which is one of my favorite sandwiches, to see whether the recipe was easy enough to incorporate into my weekly meal plans.

The recipe calls for smoked bacon, tomato, large lettuce leaves, an avocado, a lemon, white bread, and "good mayonnaise." Garten recommends using Hellmann's.

You can find the full recipe here.

However, the better quality bacon you use, the better your sandwich will turn out.

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I placed five strips of bacon on a baking wire rack on a sheet pan and put it in the heated oven.

The recipe calls for enough to make two sandwiches, but I cut the recipe in half to make just enough for myself.

The strips of bacon were a little on the thinner side, but I didn't mind that. Cooking the bacon on the wire rack was easier than frying it, in my opinion. There was no flipping required and each side turned out perfectly crisp.

I then smeared about a tablespoon of Hellmann's regular mayonnaise onto each slice.

I ended up using about five lettuce leaves.

This took a little bit of work, especially given that my avocado wasn't perfectly ripe. However, it turned out fine and wasn't too messy.

I then sliced a lemon in half and squeezed the juice on top of the avocado slices, lightly tossing them. You don't want to mash or mix the avocado slices too vigorously, just enough to coat them in the lemon juice.

Before adding the bacon to the sandwich, I soaked up some of the excess oil with a paper towel.

Other than the bacon, the other ingredients took no time at all to prepare.

I couldn't wait to dive in.

The avocado added a creamy element to the sandwich, and the lemon juice really enhanced its flavor. It tasted fresh and was perfect for a spring or summer lunch. The seasoned tomato slices also perfectly complemented the crispy bacon, which had a slightly sweet flavor.

I really enjoyed making Ina Garten's California BLT, and I would definitely make it again. While the simple recipe initially seemed like a no-brainer, the addition of lemon juice took it over the top and made it really stand out from other BLT recipes I've tried.