Bacon Guacamole…yes you heard right…BACON!

There is one thing my household loves more than avocado and that is bacon. That is why when I saw this recipe I instantly knew I HAD to make it, and soon.

This recipe is from my sweetest and most awesome friend Bernadette. Her fabulous blog is Rantz From My Crazy Kitchen. You can find many amazing recipes there including a page with 58 bacon recipes from breakfast all the way through to dessert, which means you can have a PORK PARTY all day! You can view Bernadette’s recipe for her outta this world guacamole here. Below is my version with just a slight modification.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 avocados
• 4 slices thick center cut bacon
• 1/4 cup purple onion, diced fine
• 3/4 tablespoon jalapeno, diced fine 
• 4 heirloom cherry tomatoes diced
• 1/2 lime juiced
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (small cloves or 1 big one)
• handful of freshly chopped cilantro
• dash of salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut up bacon in bite sized pieces and fry the bacon with the onions until crisp. (this is money right here, in the voice of Guy Fierre!) If you prefer less done/burnt onions, remove as you are cooking. I enjoy crispy bacon and crispy onion and they cooked together the entire process in a pan of marriage bliss! Drain everything on a paper towels when done.
2. In a small bowl mash the avocado
3. Next add; tomatoes, lemon juice, lime juice, garlic, cilantro and salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.
4. Stir in the bacon and onion, cover tightly with plastic wrap pressed right on top of the guacamole and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour. 

This recipe fed 3 of us, 2 boys and myself. We ate every last drop.

I TEENY TINY PIECE OF ADVICE ON THIS RECIPE…..The yield here is NOT enough, plan to quadruple it for your first try. That way you won’t be licking the container clean just to get a little bit more.

Roasted Cauliflower

First off, I can’t take credit for this recipe. I got it from Rachael Ray. It is the BEST cauliflower recipe ever! My kids don’t eat or like cauliflower for that matter or any veggies really and we eat the entire head of cauliflower with this recipe! I am at the point now that I automatically get 2 heads of cauliflower when I make this. (YES it’s that good!)

INGREDIENTS

4 cloves garlic, halved
About 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets (the smaller the better)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (must get this cheese, you can substitute, but this is the best!)

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, the true “parmesan” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DIRECTIONS

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400°F. 
2. In a small pot, combine the garlic and EVOO; heat over a low flame and gently simmer until the garlic is light golden brown in color and very fragrant, about 10-15 minutes. Remove the garlic cloves and reserve.
3. Pile the cauliflower on a baking sheet and dress with the lemon juice, about 3-4 tablespoons of the garlic-infused oil, thyme, and salt/pepper. 
4. Toss to combine and spread the florets out in a single layer. Roast to brown at the edges and until tender, 20-25 minutes. 
5. Cover with the grated Parmigiano Reggiano and roast for 5 minutes more. 
6. Serve warm if you can manage to keep from eating straight off the pan (this is what m and my hubby end up doing!)
7. Those garlic cloves you used to season the olive oil are great in mashed potatoes, potato salad, or mixed up in anything you can think of!