Eggs on avocado toast - easy, clean-eating breakfast or lunch!

The moment I saw the photo on Pinterest of Simple Poached Egg and Avocado Toast at Pinch of Yum, I was hungry for this combo! But I thought it would be even better with a sprinkling of crispy bacon on top. Especially since I had some already-cooked bacon in the fridge. (Because of this: the best and easiest way to cook bacon.)

Better with bacon? Yep: I was right! The contrast of crispy whole-wheat toast, creamy mashed avocado, warm/runny egg yolk and crunchy bacon = heaven!

Poached eggs are a little challenging; her method makes them a bit simpler, but you could also just fry your eggs. My avocado was a bit too firm, so I added a bit of mayo to it. And then a dash of garlic salt, just cuz. Sprinkled on some fresh ground black pepper and a wee bit of thyme -- totally optional, but pretty!

Now I wish I were going to be home for lunch tomorrow, because I am already hungry for it again!

Diet-friendly? Almost paleo (full-on paleo if you skip the bread); gluten free if you use gluten free bread for the toast; clean eating if the bacon passes muster; South Beach / low carb for maintenance level.

Really, truly, the best and easiest way to cook bacon!

I've tried 'em all -- stovetop, grill, microwave, and oven on a slotted broiling pan -- but this method makes crispy, evenly-done, flat bacon with substantially less mess than any other method.

Here's the summary:

• use good quality, fairly thickly-cut bacon (I like Wright brand, at Dillon's)
• preheated 400 F oven 
• good quality cookie sheet: half sheet for 8 oz of bacon; full sheet for 16 oz.
• cover the cookie sheet with aluminum foil completely; up the sides and around the edge, for the easiest clean up
• lay the bacon on the foil, close but not touching
• bake for 12 minutes, pour off excess oil, return to the oven
• check every two minutes till done to your liking, minus a bit (it will continue to cook a bit after being pulled from the oven)

Clean-up consists of carefully draining off the rest of the grease, wadding up the foil and tossing it in the trash!

For more details, check out the original article from The Kitchn. (Photo from The Kitchn.)

Recipe Roundup: 12 Things to Do With Avocado

Just rounding up a few avocado recipes. Because they're so good for you!

Here are a few of my own, followed by others by trusted sources.

Salmon with Fresh Avocado Salsa

BLT's without the bread

Ancho-crusted Salmon with Avocado Crema

Ina Garten's Guacamole Salad, with my variations. 

(Note: it's not the texture of guacamole; just the ingredients.)

Turkey-Bacon-Avocado Sandwich. The photo is from Pioneer Woman, and her recipe includes some fancyin'-up, like pesto, but really, I think a simple sandwich of turkey, bacon, avocado, Swiss or provolone cheese, tomato if you like, and a bit of mayo on some crusty whole-wheat toast doesn't need a recipe -- and is just the best sandwich ever! 

Hint: When eating at Jason's Deli, order the California Club on whole wheat toast (instead of the standard croissant). Order it with steamed veggies on the side, and that is one guilt-free lunch!

And here are some others I've found around the web...

Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Chopped Salad (Can you tell I love avocado with bacon?) This looks so amazing! And inspired by a dish from a Salina, KS restaurant -- Go, Kansas!

Avocado-Tomato-Mango Salsa, from AllRecipes: 5 stars and almost 700 reviews! This sounds like it would be great on fish, pork -- or chips!

Kiwi Salsa from Simply Recipes

The top-rated Avocado Smoothie from AllRecipes.

Avocado Ranch Dressing, also via AllRecipes. (I like that site because you're getting the opinion of not just one person, but hundreds.)

Avocado Egg Salad, from Pioneer Woman. (I've been meaning to try this forever. Gotta make it happen soon.)

And to finish off our avocado buffet: Chocolate (Avocado) Pudding, anyone? from HowSweetEats.

10 things to do with a bacon-weave

My husband once wove some bacon together and draped it over a pork loin (yes, redundant, I know), but I had no idea that the bacon weave was a "thing." 

But it is. A little googling prooves that it most certainly is!

First, the most obvious {forehead smack} use: ensuring that every single bite of your BLT is bacony!

Food blogger SavoryNotes makes a mean bacon weave and takes a mighty-fine pic, above. (But a BLT on white bread -- untoasted?! That ain't right!) Her method involves whiskey and brown sugar. Hmm.

Lifehacker commenter JaySinn divulges his secret for a simple, single-serving bacon weave:

I find 2 slices and a microwave do the job nicely - cut the slices in half, then do a similar weave, but just three parallel and one perpendicular slice woven in the middle. Paper towel underneath and on top, into the microwave for 3-4 minutes and you get a nice crispy square of bacon, that is all stuck together in one easy to apply slice. The microwave method is much faster and you don't have to drain the fat off while cooking as the paper towel absorbs the excess.

The Republic of Bacon claims the best BLT ever, featuring a bacon weave and chipotle mayo. They certainly have a brilliant idea on how to efficiently cut your bacon in half:

Here are just a few of the other, dare I say, stunning things people have done with their carefully woven bacon...

A grilled bacon-weave turkey from BarbequeMaster:

Here is it topping an Easter ham, studded with cloves and glazed with a pineapple-juice/brown-sugar/7UP concoction, from the appropriately named LifeCandy:

The "baco" - a bacon taco - via This is Why You're Fat (also appropriately named):

Bacon weave as a stand-in for pizza crust, via FoodBeast:

In the same vein, bacon-weave as a stand-in for bread, via the DailyBacon:

Have you heard of a fatty? AKA, "bacon explosion." It involves bacon wrapped around sausage and, depending on the recipe, possibly other things. (Ah, America!) Most of the ones I've seen are really too grotesque for me to share here, gentle reader, but if you are made of strong enough stuff, you can find detailed instructions at Grilling24x7:

Things get curioser and curioser...

Bacon-weave-topped apple pie - via Is This Thing On?:

A bacon-weave salad bowl, also via FoodBeast:

And last but not least: Turtle burgers:

No, those aren't actually turtles: the center is hamburger and the legs, heads and tail are hot dogs.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take some Maalox and lie down...

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe

Looking for things to do with summer's last abundance of garden tomatoes? When you're tired of BLT's (is that possible?), this is one delicious way to serve up the same flavors with a twist.

This recipe is based on Ina Garten's (aka Barefoot Contessa) buttermilk ranch dressing. I'm not saying I could improve on her: these changes were just made to accommodate my being short on fresh basil, my husband's aversion to too much mustard flavor, and our taste for less salt in things. Also, I prefer the taste of yogurt to that of mayo, so I tweaked that proportion a bit.

I loved how it came out! I ate this salad or some variation of it for four days straight! I hope you'll love it, too.

Recipe: Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

3 green onions, white and green parts, chopped

2 T. chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed (or 2 t. dried)

2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 t. Dijon mustard

1 T. good olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 t. kosher salt

1 t. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 cup Greek-style yogurt

1/2 cup buttermilk, shaken

----

3 small Bibb lettuces, cut in half through the core

   (or 6 hearts of romaine, cut in half through the core, or equivalent loose-leaf chopped)

2 large ripe tomatoes, cut in large cubes, or smaller tomatoes thickly sliced

1 red onion, sliced (optional)

bacon, amount to your liking (optional, but highly recommended)

Place the green onions, basil, lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Puree for 15 to 20 seconds to make a smooth mixture. Add the mayonnaise, yogurt, and buttermilk and blend until smooth. Transfer the dressing to a container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, for the flavors to develop.

Arrange the salad ingredients on salad plates and drizzle with the dressing. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper if desired, and serve.

Serves 6.

BLT's -- without the bread

Once locally grown tomatoes are in season in Kansas, I always start craving BLT's! (Bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich, for any poor souls who are unacquainted with this little bite of summer.)

I made some homemade bread last week just for this. Added some smoked turkey to punch up the protein. But to keep my carbs and proteins (sort of) in balance, I limit myself to one piece of bread per meal. After devouring one delicious BLT -- ripe, sweet juiciness of the tomato contrasting with the salty crunch of the bacon -- I wanted more! Looking hungrily at the remaining tomatoes and bacon, I wondered if the bread were really necessary.

So I took a bit of romaine, smeared it with a little mayo, and topped it with tomato and bacon. Added a slice of avocado to some of them. Oh yeah! It's all the best flavors and textures of a BLT, without the carbs! Perfect for the gluten free, low carb, Paleo or Whole30 diet. They'd make a great snack or appetizer, too.

A couple notes to make them healthier: choose nitrate/nitrite-free bacon; look for a mayo that contains no corn syrup. Or make your own! I like this super-easy 4-ingredient mayo recipe.

Chicken club salad with creamy balsamic vinaigrette

Working from home has its perks and its challenges.

One of the perks is making yourself lunch every day.

One of the challenges is making yourself lunch every day.

For me, answering "What's for lunch?" usually starts with a peek in the fridge to see what protein options I have on hand. With the weather warming up, I feel like a salad pretty much every day, but it's got to have some protein.

On this particular day, I had a bit of roasted chicken, but just a small portion; not enough to make even one serving of orange-cranberry chicken salad.

So what else was in there? Some fully-cooked bacon. I'm okay with using bacon as a flavor accent, but it's not really healthy enough to be the main protein in a meal, IMHO. Hard boiled egg would round things out nicely.

So I grabbed a few eggs and boiled them. It just takes a few minutes, and ever since I got this handy little egg timer, my hard boiled eggs come out perfect every time. The product description says it best:

" Simply add the egg timer in with your eggs and boil... There's an easy-to-read scale within the timer. During the course of boiling, the timer changes colors, from red to purple, starting from the outside edge and moving to the center. When the color change reaches your desired spot on the scale, the eggs are cooked accordingly."

So although I just wanted one egg for my salad, I make a couple extra for deviled eggs, tomorrow's lunch, or who knows what. While the eggs were boiling, I fried up some of the bacon. Since it's fully cooked, that's not really necessary, but I like it crispy. (If I had a microwave, I could nuke it, but I don't.)

I chopped up some romaine, and sliced a little red onion very thin. Then, to whip up the dressing.

This is based on a super-simple dressing recipe I learned from a friend...

 Dressing option 1:

1-2-3 Dressing

1 part sugar
2 parts balsamic vinegar
3 parts olive oil

You just combine those in a jar and shake them up. Easy-peasy, right?

But there are two things I don't like about that. First of all, it's got sugar. And although you can sub another sweetener, I've found that sweetener-based dressings don't cling to the greens like the sugar-based version does.

Also, it tends to separate easily. So here's my solution:

Dressing option 2:

Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette

2 packets Splenda (or sweetener of your choice equiv. to 4 t. sugar)
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. mayo
2 T. olive oil

Put the sweetener and the vinegar in a small jar. Swirl it around until the sweetener is mostly dissolved.

Then add in the mayo and shake it up well, until no more white flecks can be seen on the inside of the jar. Then add the olive oil and shake again.

This makes enough for the generous dressing of one good-sized salad, or two smaller ones.

The addition of the mayo helps both with making the dressing cling to the salad, and keeping it from separating.

So, by this time, your eggs should be done. Rinse them with cold water for a minute or so, then shake the pan so the eggs smack against each other, to crack the shells. Then remove the shells, and slice up as many as you want for your salad.

Assembly time: romaine, chicken, egg slices, bacon, sliced onion. I wasn't in a cheese mood on this particular day, but you could certainly add feta, bleu, Swiss, or shredded cheddar to this. Then drizzle dressing over the top and toss lightly.

There you have it: a fresh, healthy, delicious salad, in less time than it would take you to drive to a bistro and read the menu!

I call that a perk.

You might also like:
30-second Caesar salad
Ginger-peanut salad dressing
Make-ahead Tex-Mex salad

25 Super Bowl Recipes, Part 4: Low Carb

And onto day five of our Super Bowl recipe round-up: Low Carb!

I think more chips are sold SB weekend than any other week of the year. But it is possible to have delish, satisfying snacks on the table that don't max out your carb allowance for the month, all in one sitting! Here are a few.

Just about any dip you can find is low carb, it's the crackers and chips they're usually served with that makes them high carb. Use a crisp veggie instead, and it's instant health food!  :) But skip the usual, boring carrots and celery on a plate; think jicama, bell pepper strips, ribs from hearts-of-romaine. And to make them even more appealing, place them in vertical glass containers, like the beautiful table shown here, from Sugar Plum Sisters.

Bacon-Avocado Sammies from non nom paleo. Don't these look yummy?! 

Zucchini/squash Pizza Bites, from yours truly. The "crust" couldn't be simpler: it's just slices of summer squash or zucchini, lightly baked before being topped with your favorite pizza stuff, and broiled. (Inspired by Kalyn's Kitchen.) Shown here in both pepperoni and vegetarian versions.

Deviled Eggs. Did you know that deviled eggs from the grocery store sometimes contain sugar? Yuck! Much safer to make your own. I like 'em simple and classic, like this take from SimplyRecipes.

Garlic-Herb Cheese Spread or Dip, also from this site. Tastes sort of like Allouette. Again, to keep it low carb, serve with veggie dippers.

25 Super Bowl Recipes, Part 2: Hot Stuff

Continuing this week's recipe round-up of Super Bowl food... Today's theme: Hot dips.
Dig in!

Bacon Double Cheeseburger Dip from Closet Cooking

Black-eyed Pea Dip, via Pioneer Woman

A copy-cat recipe of the legendary Spinach-Artichoke Dip from Houston's Restaurant.

Jalapeno Popper Dip from Big Red Kitchen -- so much easier than wrapping jalapenos one by one!

French Dip Crescents from Mama Loves Food -- Make this one even easier on yourself: use the super-simple au jus with my 10-minute French Dip recipe.  

Buffalo Chicken Dip from SkinnyTaste - All the flavor of buffalo wings without messy hands! 

25 Super Bowl Recipes, Part 1: Three-Ingredient Treats

Every day this week, I'll be posting four to six recipes I've rounded up that you might want to put on your Super Bowl table this weekend. Today's theme: Three ingredients!  -- aka, SUPER easy!

Pretzel Turtles from Veronica's Cornucopia.

Bacon-wrapped Pineapple Bites from Tasty Kitchen.

Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies, via Food.com -- bonus: gluten free!

Mango Salsa

There are lots of recipes out there for mango salsa, but the first one I was introduced to was this one. It's so simple, you'll think, "That can't be it." But trust me, these three ingredients combine in some mystical way to create a deliciousness that outweighs the shopping list and expectations. For each two servings:

1 mango, diced (here's how)

1 handful of cilantro, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

Stir them all together, and enjoy immediately, or use within one day.

For party food, serve it with tortilla chips, but it's also delish on top of salmon or pork.

Chipotle-Raspberry Salsa on Cream Cheese

Here's another "recipe" that seems toooooo simple to be impressive, but oh my goodness, is this stuff addictive! And really, the picture above contains the whole recipe. You'll want to soften the cream cheese first, and you won't need the whole bottle -- just pour it on till the cheese is well smothered.

The third ingredient? Your favorite crackers or chips: Ritz, Wheat Thins, Doritos -- it's all good!

You can find Bronco Bob's at Amazon, World Market, and last time I checked, Dillons/Kroger.

Coming later this week: Hot Stuff, Cold Dips, Low Carb, and Sweet Treats!