Bacon Avocado Pico de Gallo

I found this recipe on Family Fresh Cooking via Pork, Knife & Spoon. The original title I saw was bacon guacamole, and while I think that would be very good, I think the pieces of avocado here are too big to qualify as guacamole. It has more of a pico de gallo consistency to me. I used it as a topping in tacos, but if the pieces are small enough, it would make a nice salsa, too. While I don’t necessarily recommend keeping leftovers, because the bacon goes soft, I have to say that the avocado stayed quite green after 24 hours in the fridge (as you can see in the second taco close-up), and it was still good the next day. I forgot to roast the garlic for this recipe; I absolutely love roasted garlic, so I’m sure it would have been delicious had I done it right, but I used 2 cloves of minced garlic, and I don’t think it suffered any. I increased the number of avocados and bacon, as noted below. I think this would be even better with a mix of red and yellow tomatoes. As it was, the Engineer declared it delicious and had an expression of intense satisfaction and happiness on his face. As he finished his plate, he said it was excellent and demanded more. I concur.

1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 vine ripe tomato, diced and seeded
2-4 cloves roasted garlic, diced
¼ cup diced green onion
6 slices bacon, browned & sliced small (or your favorite turkey bacon)
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 avocados, diced
1 Tbsp lemon juice
season to taste with: salt, black pepper, smoked paprika (I used the first two)
optional: for some heat and spice, add some finely diced serrano or jalapéno pepper

Brown bacon in pan on medium high heat. Let cool. Clean and chop all veggies and bacon. Mix all ingredients together, combining well. Add avocado last so it doesn’t get all mushy. Season to taste. Garnish with extra cilantro if desired.

This pico de gallo keeps in the fridge overnight; make sure to put plastic wrap tightly against the leftovers.