Bacon makes everything better, right? It’s the star of our BLTA Salad 🥓 🥬 🍅 🥑, “salad” really being a code name for this deliciously creamy pasta dish 😆. It's portable-, picnic-, beach-, child-, and BBQ friendly! Happy 4th 🇺🇸 to all our American friends! Xoxo Kirsty
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
For the salad:
12 oz. (340g) bacon
1 lb. (540g) dry pasta, small shells, farfalle or fusilli work well
1 pint small cherry tomatoes, halved
3 handfuls of baby spinach
1 large avocado, cubed
For the dressing:
1/2 cup (120g) Greek yogurt, full fat, 2% or plain (unsweetened) yogurt
1/2 cup (110g) mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
2 tablespoons chopped chives
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1-2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Line a sheet pan with foil and arrange the bacon slices on the sheet pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping over halfway, until golden and crunchy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on paper towels. When cool, roughly chop or crumble, set aside.
Whilst the bacon is in the oven, boil a large pot of salted water and cook the pasta according to package instructions. When cooked, rinse with cold water, drain, and set aside.
For the dressing, combine all of the ingredients. Start by adding only 1 tablespoon of water, you can add more if you prefer a thinner consistency. Cover and chill.
When the pasta and bacon are both at room temperature, add the cherry tomatoes, baby spinach and avocado cubes. If you’re making this ahead to bring to a picnic, put the avocado in the bowl first, toss with a little dressing, and pile the remaining ingredients on top. This will help keep the avocado from browning, until you are ready to serve.
Pour the dressing over the salad andtoss well to ensure all those flavors mingle!
