This sandwich recipe from Try This at Home: Recipes from My Head to Your Plate (Clarkson Potter, February 2013) by Top Chef Richard Blais is a new twist on the classic BLT. Instead of bacon, Blais uses cured, smoked pork belly and slow-roasts it in the oven; it is an interesting way to coax flavor and texture out of an unexpected source.

A traditional BLT could be in the running for the best sandwich ever, and this one from Bi-Rite Market’s Eat Good Food features a fried egg and harissa, a North African chile paste. Authors Sam Mogannam and Dabney Gough suggest experimenting with different hot sauce as well, like a Thai curry paste or other Asian chile sauce.