Bacon, Tomato and Avocado Salad with Bison Bacon and Pesto

I used to dislike avocados, and now I can hardly imagine my kitchen without them. The only downside is their unpredictable timetable: when you need a perfectly ripe avocado immediately, it often feels like bad luck. Buy them hard and you get a narrow window—usually about a day—once they hit that ideal soft-but-firm stage. That’s when you either use them right away or try to extend their life with refrigeration or a quick recipe.

Recently two avocados reached peak ripeness together, so Mike made guacamole for later and I tossed a simple salad for dinner. The salad combined ripe avocado, juicy tomato, thinly sliced purple onion, and flat-leaf Italian parsley from my garden. I finished it with strips of bison bacon—lean, salty, and slightly different in texture from the typical streaky bacon. The bison bacon I used is thin and meaty, more like a dark back bacon than the classic breakfast strips. (It came from Valta Bison in Ramsay.)

For dressing, I shook together a quick vinaigrette: about two parts good olive oil to one part bottled pesto, then drizzled it over the salad. The pesto adds herb and nut notes that pair beautifully with the creamy avocado and the salty bite of the bison bacon. This combination felt like it would work equally well as a salad or as a sandwich filling—imagine those same ingredients with pesto stirred into mayonnaise for a layered sandwich experience. Bacon, tomato and avocado are a classic trio, and the pesto simply lifts it into something a little more interesting.

The textures in this salad were what made it sing: soft, melting avocado, a bit of chew from the bison bacon, crisp tomato and the bright snap of purple onion. I found myself reaching for the salty slabs of bacon and the avocado first, which is always a compliment to the balance of flavors. Next time I’ll probably swap the Italian parsley for thinly sliced baby spinach; the spinach will give a milder green base that lets the avocado and bacon shine without the stronger herb note of parsley.

If you’re dealing with variable avocado ripeness at home, a few simple tips help reduce waste and make planning meals easier. To speed ripening, place firm avocados in a paper bag with an apple or banana—the ethylene those fruits emit encourages ripening. To slow ripening once they’re at the right stage, move them to the refrigerator; that usually gives you a couple of extra days. If you only need half an avocado, leave the pit in, brush the exposed flesh with lemon or lime juice to slow browning, and press a sheet of plastic wrap directly against the surface before refrigerating. You can also store cut avocado with a thin layer of olive oil to act as a barrier against air.

This salad was a reminder of how small changes—substituting bison bacon for pork, adding pesto to the dressing, or choosing spinach instead of parsley—can shift a simple idea into something distinct. It’s also a testimony to how my cooking preferences have evolved; I never would have expected to be such an avocado fan. Food habits change, and experimenting with what’s in season or what’s in the garden often leads to new favorites.

Whether you keep the recipe simple as a weeknight salad or adapt it into a hearty sandwich, the combination of creamy avocado, ripe tomato, sharp onion, and salty bison bacon is a dependable crowd-pleaser. Try it as written or make it your own: swap herbs, switch greens, or add a squeeze of citrus to brighten the whole dish.