Smoked Bacon and Avocado Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounce box of Pronto Barilla Elbow Pasta
- 12 slices smoked bacon, diced
- 1 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese (or a cheese of your choice)
- 1 medium sized cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
- 2 avocados, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 medium size Roma tomatoes (diced)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Directions
- Step 1 Prepare pasta per package instructions. Do not overcook. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Step 2 Bake bacon in oven per package instructions. Allow bacon to cool on a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside about 5 slices for garnish. Dice to desired size.
- Step 3 Combine mayonnaise, lemon/lime juice, lemon zest, and thyme in medium sized bowl.
- Step 4 Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Step 5 Slowly whisk the olive oil into the combined ingredients. Whisk until a smooth velvety consistency is formed. Set aside.
- Step 6 In a large bowl, combine pasta, bacon, tomatoes,avocado,cucumber,cheese, and dressing.
- Step 7 Serve immediately. Garnish with extra bacon.
- Step 8 Enjoy!
Quick Tips:
When being used for a cold salad, pasta should always be rinsed after cooking. This serves two purposes:
First, it stops the cooking process immediately. Rinsing in cold water brings the temperature of the pasta down, which you don’t want when eating it hot, but is OK in this instance since the pasta will be served cold.
It also keeps the pasta loose for the salad. When left un-rinsed, the starchy coating can make the pasta gummy and clump together.
If the pasta is clumpy before adding to the dressing mixture, just light rinse once more.
For hassle-free perfect bacon, bake it! Add 1 to 2 minutes of additional cooking for that just right crispness.
Fresh is best. Never use concentrated lemon juice.
Avocados are a fragile fruit and will turn brown after a short period of time. The lemon juice however slows down the browning process. If you are making this dish ahead of time and need to refrigerate it, consider adding the avocado about 15 minutes prior to serving.
Enjoy!
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