Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and Guacamole

I know it’s crazy to think about making healthy improvements to a BLT – it’s a BLT for goodness sake – but that’s where I found myself today. I’d gone for a long run and wanted to reward myself with a guilty pleasure. I had campari tomatoes on-hand and shredded greens (frisee and escarole) from last night’s shrimp tacos. I decided to pick up some thick-cut bacon and make my first BLT of the season. When I got home, I remembered that I also had leftover guacamole (also made for dinner last night) in the fridge, and thought that would be a healthier alternative to mayo. Turned out delicious.

Another advantage of using guacamole in my BLT is that eating avocado along with tomato really improves your nutritional uptake from the tomatoes.  One of the things I’ve learned since following the ChefMD is that eating the right combinations of foods can make a big difference in how your body utilizes the nutrients.  In this case, combining avocado (in my guacamole) with tomatoes increases one’s absorption of lycopene by a factor of four.

My guacamole recipe is included in the link to shrimp tacos, but I’ve included it below as well, in case you don’t want to scroll through all of the things that went into the tacos.

Guacamole

Combine in a bowl:

• 1 ripe avocado (flesh scooped from the skin and pit removed), mashed with a fork
• juice of 1 lemon (or lime, if you prefer)
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• hot-sauce to taste (optional)

Mix together with a fork until it has reached your desired consistency (I like mine to be a little bit chunky).