Next week I’m partnering with 25 bloggers for a week long celebration of summer desserts, so in preparation for what is sure to be cheat day turned cheat week, I’m lightening things up with this BLT + Avocado Bow Tie Pasta.
And speaking of cheat day turned cheat week, our cheat weekend included some downright terrible eating (hello National Ice Cream Day and donuts on Sunday). I found myself craving something a bit less heavy today.
It’s what I love about Mondays. It’s the ability to hit the refresh button and give the new week a go and hope that you’ll make better choices.
The BLT + Avocado Bow Tie Pasta Salad is essentially everything you know and love about a BLT sandwich minus the bread, and with the addition of bow ties because well, they make a salad look happy. I’ve also added some avocado because I have found that if I add avocado, I’m less tempted to over do it with dressing.
Dressing and I have quite a love/hate relationship. I blame restaurants for having us believe that every piece of lettuce saturated with dressing on it.
And I also think it’s the creaminess of the avocados that I enjoy the most, because honestly, I don’t find that they have a whole lot of taste on their own. My husband can eat an avocado by itself for a snack, and I’m like “want me to make guacamole? how about I put that in a corn dip? on a salad?”.
Nope. Eats it alone with a bit of salt and pepper.
- 1/2 pound bow tie pasta
- 6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 6 cups romaine lettuce, torn
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 cup desired dressing (I used Kraft Avocado)
- Cook the pasta as directed on the package before draining and rinsing. While waiting for the pasta to cool, cook the bacon and set aside on paper towels to drain and cool before crumbling. Mix everything in a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Serve immediately.
I’ve used a store bought Avocado dressing, but I was tempted to serve this with Ranch. I think the flavors will work just as nicely and I typically have it on hand, but I spotted the Avocado dressing and it sounded perfect for the last minute avocado addition to this salad.
**I noticed when editing these photos that my bacon looks like ham. I promise it’s bacon. I don’t like my bacon super crispy but didn’t realize until I editing the photos (and had eaten half the salad) that my bacon could’ve used a bit more time in the microwave.
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