The Perfect Summer Dinner Salad

[Shaun @ Tru6]

avocado, bacon, tomato, red onion, olive oil, red wine vinegar, crusty bread.

[Icemaster]

Sub the avocado with fresh mozarella and I'm right there with you. Nice bowl of spicy gaspacho on the side.

[onlycafe]

no substitutions!!!

[Gogar]

Yum! I'm gonna try that. I'm a sucker for the "old reliable", though.

[Tobra]

maybe with balsamic vinegar, or perhaps carmelize the onions when you cook the bacon

I need to plant an avocado tree

I need to buy some mozarella, already have everything else in the pantry or the back yard

[mikester]

you had me at bacon.

[74-911]

If you are from the South, this is the summer salad that covers all the basic southern food groups:

crumbled cornbread
chopped onion
chopped bell pepper
diced tomatoes
crumbled bacon
miracle whip

[Shaun @ Tru6]

the old reliable for me is more of a September salad.

in a steel bowl:
tomatoes
roasted garlic
whole fresh basil leaves
olive oil
goat cheese
pine nuts

toss lightly, toss in a 400F oven for about 6 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and the cheese is very soft. get some grilled or crusty bread and you are set. Add some red wine on the back deck and you will be irresistible.

there's really nothing like it.

[jyl]

Wow, everything pictured looks great.

[vash]

looks awesome. i would ditch the bacon (it's better as a side dish anyways), and substitute a scoop of homemade bay shrimp salad, or crab salad. i would also slice the avocado and tomato, and simply "lean the slices" over, all fanned out. add a nice hardboiled egg...yum.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by vash

looks awesome. i would ditch the bacon (it's better as a side dish anyways), and substitute a scoop of homemade bay shrimp salad, or crab salad. i would also slice the avocado and tomato, and simply "lean the slices" over, all fanned out. add a nice hardboiled egg...yum.

Slicing would have been better. I ended up mashing the avocado with my fork while sprinkling more red wine vinegar over it. wonderful combination of fat and acid.

[azasadny]

Lose the bacon (I'm a vegetarian) and substitute balsamic vinegar for red wine vinegar and I'm there!!

[Icemaster]

Only reason to drop the bacon would be to sub some good prosciutto.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Icemaster

Only reason to drop the bacon would be to sub some good prosciutto.

grilled prosciutto is awesome! serious flare up, but so so tasty!

[herr_oberst]

that first salad would be perfect, if it were on a bed of cold, curly pasta. with some foccacia bread to the side (can't get enough of the starch!)

(oh, and plus one for the balsamic over the red wine)

[bivenator]

A large rack of bbq ribs on top would put it on my radar.

[Rot 911]

There is never a good reason to lose the bacon.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I normally appreciate a good balsamic vinegar, but mostly when combined with tomatoes as the star. here, the avocado really is and requires a more delicate flavor. but going with Tobra's theme, I could see caramelizing the bacon in a balsamic-brown sugar reduction.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

avocado, bacon, tomato, red onion, olive oil, red wine vinegar, crusty bread.

I don't know about "perfect" but it looks pretty good. I'd chop everything a bit finer (cube the avocado) and toss it with fresh arugula or spinach. Add diced mushrooms and black olives. Then substitute the red wine vinegar for a good balsamic concoction (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a little lemon juice, kosher salt, pinch of sugar). Top with fresh ground pepper and shredded parmesan.