Turkey Bacon Avocado Sub

Sliced turkey breast, crispy bacon, and creamy avocado stuffed into a soft chewy Honey Whole Wheat Hoagie Roll.

My stomach is growling as I'm writing this.  This has to be the best sandwich ever.  The bread is homemade, soft, and delicious, the turkey is tender, the bacon is crisp and smokey, and the avocado is buttery.  These simple flavors combine to create one amazing sandwich.

The best sandwich ever. [Tweet this]

Turkey Bacon Avocado Sub

Servings:  2-4

Ingredients:

2 hoagie rolls (foot long) like my Honey Whole Wheat Hoagie Rolls
12 turkey breast slices
4 strips bacon (cooked)
1-2 cups mashed avocado (with lime juice to keep from browning)
red onion, sliced
lettuce or spinach
other toppings of your choice

Split the hoagie rolls in half long ways but don't cut all the way through.

Spread the rolls open and layer about 6 slices of turkey breast (more or less depending on how thick/thin) down the length of one side (the bottom side) of the sandwich.

Top the turkey with bacon, red onions, lettuce and any other toppings.

Then spread a thick layer (about 1/2-1 cup) of mashed avocado along the top side of the sandwich.  Season the avocado with salt, pepper, and hot sauce to your tastes and close the sandwich.

Cut the sandwich crosswise and serve.  Makes 2-foot long subs or 4-6 inch.  Serve with chips and/or vegetables.

Enjoy.

Other recipe mentioned in this post:

Honey Whole Wheat Hoagie Rolls

For more sandwich ideas check out:

Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches	Meatball Sub          -	Spiced Eggplant & Mushrooms Sandwich
Steak and Cheese Shooter's Sandwich	Mayonnaise-less Egg Salad Sandwich	Mushroom and Swiss Patty Melt

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Quick & Easy Guacamole

A four ingredient guacamole with a wonderful flavor that's ready in no time.  So simple anyone can make it.

There are many uses for avocados but when I have them I always want to make guacamole.  It's creamy, savory, and delicious.  It makes a great snack or addition to meals like tacos, salads, even sandwiches.  I'm a guacamole addict.  Are you?

I'm a guacamole addict. Are you? [Tweet this]

One of the many awesome things about Hawaii is that avocados grow on trees.  Buying avocados can be a little pricey but I have a friend with an avocado tree in her yard.  It's a big old tree that produces lots of avocados and she shares them with me.  At one point, I had about eight avocados on my kitchen counter waiting to become perfectly ripe. I love Hawaii.

Money doesn't grow on trees, but avocados do. [Tweet this]

Now I have to mention this mortar and pestle.  I love it.  My husband brought it home one day (I think from Costco, but I don't remember for sure) because he knew I always wanted a good one.  That's my kind of romance.  I don't want diamonds.  The way to my heart is with cooking paraphernalia.  Anyway, it's eight inches in diameter and heavy (I have to use two hands to lift it).  It doesn't get moved often but has a place of honor on my prep table right beside my Kitchenaid.  It's great for grinding hard spices and for this recipe, pounding garlic.  The way to the best guacamole is with pounded garlic.  You can mince all you like but when you pound/mash it all the oils are released and it becomes very fragrant and delicious.  This is the way to make ready to serve guacamole.  You don't have to wait for the flavors to meld when you pound and mash everything together.  Now I love guacamole with lots of flavors in it like my Great Guacamole but, I love it quick and simple too.

The best guacamole is with pounded garlic. [Tweet this]

Quick & Easy Guacamole

Ingredients:

2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 avocados
2 limes
Hot sauce (like Habanero Hot Sauce)

Peel and mince (or just chop into small pieces) the garlic.  Then place it in a mortar and pestle and pound/mash it until it's very fragrant and kind of mushy (you can also use the edge of a  knife or even a garlic press for similar results, but nothing beats taking out some aggression by pounding it in a mortar and pestle).

Then add the avocado and juice from 2 limes.  Mash and stir the avocado until it's creamy and mixed well.

Add as much hot sauce as you like and stir to combine.  You can add salt if you like, but I rarely do since I eat it with tortilla chips that are usually salty enough.

It's ready to serve right away.  Refrigerate leftovers in a sealed container for up to a week (if it lasts that long).  You can also freeze it in a zipper bag just make sure all of the air is squeezed out (I've had frozen mashed avocado with lime juice in my freezer for up to 1 month--it may stay good for longer but did I mention I'm an addict).

Enjoy.

Recipes mentioned in this post:

Habanero Hot Sauce

Great Guacamole

Don't know what to do with all this guacamole?  Try:

Chicken and Black Bean Salsa Nachos

Guacamole Black Bean Tuna Salad

Tequila Lime Chicken Taco Salad

Linked to:  2 Cup, Treasure Box, Lou Lou Girls, Whimsy, Tickle My Tastebuds, Tasty, freedom Friday, Food Friends

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Pulled Pork Taco Salad

A taco salad topped with spicy black beans, pulled pork and avocado.

We always get these big bags of tortilla chips from Costco.  It's a 2.5 pound bag so that is a lot of tortilla chips for two people.  I love it.  They are organic and taste great...and are inexpensive.  So, whenever my husband goes to Costco, (yes my husband does the heavy bulk buying/shopping) we have over 2 pounds of chips to eat on for weeks.  I love this because I like chips with my sandwiches, there is always and excuse to make salsa, guacamole, or hummus. And my favorite, plenty of chips to make taco salad.

Taco salad is my favorite meal.  I could eat it all the time and my blog would be non existent or very boring.  One good thing about blogging is that it has made me more creative with taco salad.  Instead of just having plain ground beef taco salad all the time I've started trying new things.  I've found that you can make just about anything into taco salad.  This pulled pork taco salad is one of my first creative ventures and it turned out great.

Whenever we see pork butt on sale my husband or I will always pick it up.  We love pulled pork.  For this pork it was cooked in the slow cooker with just basic seasoning and I made a separate vinegar based sauce to pour on it individually (it was very hot (spicy) so I used less and my husband used more).  We had plenty of pork witch we froze some, ate barbecue pulled pork for a few days and still had some left over for this delicious taco salad.

I did not add taco seasoning to the pork for this salad.  I wanted the slow cooked pork flavor to stand out but I did want some spiciness so I made spiced beans.  It was very simple I just tossed about 1 cup of hot salsa into 2 cups of black beans and let them simmer.  For something a little different, instead of topping this taco salad with cheese, I decided to use mashed avocado.  It was delicious and I think I will use it more often.

Pulled Pork Taco Salad

Ingredients:

Pulled pork
2 cups black beans, precooked
1 cup hot salsa
1 avocado, mashed
juice of 1 lime
lettuce, torn
tortilla chips
green onions, sliced
jalapenos, diced

In a medium-large sauce pan heat the black beans and salsa and some salt until simmering.  Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes until the flavors meld.

Meanwhile, mash the avocado with a little salt and the lime juice, set aside.

Prepare all of the other ingredients and set out so each person can make their own salad.  I made my salad with lettuce, chips, black beans, pulled pork, avocado, and green onions.  Other toppings could include jalapenos, cilantro, carrots, or whatever you like.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Eat Create Party, Freedom Friday. Best of The Weekend, Show Stopper, Shine a Spotlight, Saturday Night Fever, Random Recipe Roundup, Much Ado About Monday, Two Cup Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Brag About It, Whimsy Wednesday, Saturday Dishes Tex Mex




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Avocado B.L.T Salad

Crisp green lettuce tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette and topped with crispy bacon, juicy tomatoes, and creamy avocado.

Avocados 3 for a dollar.  How could I pass those up? They were a bit over-ripe but still tasty...and cheap. One I used for this salad and the other two will make a delicious guacamole. My husband loves avocado so he was very pleased with this filling salad.

Avocado B.L.T Salad

Ingredients:

Lettuce (enough for 2 salads, 3-4 handfuls)
Grape tomatoes,  split
4-5 strips extra crispy bacon, crumbled
1 avocado, cubed
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 tsp balsamic vinegar

Mix the oil and vinegar in the bottom of a large salad bowl.  Toss the lettuce, until thoroughly coated, in the vinaigrette and separate into two serving bowls or plates.

Top the lettuce with about a handful of tomatoes then sprinkle on half of the bacon per salad. Lastly top with the avocado (half for each salad).

Serve and enjoy.

Linked to:  Random Recipe Roundup, Much Ado About Monday, Two Cup Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Brag About it, Whimsy Wednesday, Freedom Fridays, Eat Create Party, Best of the Weekend, Show Stopper, Shine a Spotlight, Saturday Night Fever

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Great Guacamole

A creamy dip of pureed avocados and spices.

Guacamole is a delicious and creamy dip made mainly of mashed avocados.  I've made pretty great guacamole with just avocados, lime juice, and hot sauce.  Even plain mashed avocados taste great.  But, when I have a chance I like to go all out with my guacamole.  I like to keep it green using only other green ingredients that add spice and flavor.  Now that I have a food processor it makes it even easier.  Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 Avocados, (peels and pit removed)
1/4-1/2 cup Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
lime juice from 2 limes (about 1 Tbsp)
1-2 jalapenos, roughly chopped
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4-1/2 cup cilantro
pinch of salt.

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until finely chopped and creamy.

Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Enjoy

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