BLT Dip

This is my sister Cynthia’s BLT Dip. She promised me it would be a big hit — and she was right. It’s great for party time, or any time!

Ingredients:

• Thinly sliced bacon
• Nature Sweet cherub tomatoes
• mayo
• green onions

Directions:
Chop the bacon into small pieces. (I usually take it out of the package and slice across the whole stack of slices with a big knife, making the pieces about half an inch wide.) Cook the pieces of bacon in a big skillet until crisp, then lift the pieces out with tongs or a slotted spatula or something similar and allow them to drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

While the bacon is cooking, slice the tomatoes in half.

[HOLD EVERYTHING! I just saw the coolest trick on the Internet — and I tried it and it works. Put all your cherry tomatoes on a salad plate. Take a second salad plate and turn it upside down on top of the first one (tomatoes will be in the middle). Put the “plate sandwich” onto your counter and use one hand to press down on it, then take a long, sharp knife and pass it through the center slot between the two plates, moving the knife from next to you to away from you. Remove the top salad plate. Magic has happened! Your cherry tomatoes are now all sliced in half. You did the entire group of them at once. How cool is that???]

I like to use the time I saved with the group slicing to allow me to squish the seeds out of the tomatoes, but it’s up to you whether you want to include the slimy seed-filled part of the ‘mater or not.

Gently stir together the tomatoes and bacon with just enough mayo to mix together. Spoon the mixture into a lovely serving container, then top it with thinly sliced green onions to add a little more color. Serve with little cocktail bread that has been toasted, or bagel chips.

I use the Nature Sweet cherubs because I can always find them, and they are sweet and tasty all year long. If it’s summer and you have great fresh tomatoes available to you, use them!

I’ve added some firm avocado chunks to this dip a time or two also and have loved the way it turned out. If the avocados are too ripe, it’s a disaster. As you stir, you end up with bacon-infused guacamole — which is good, but not what you’re going for with this recipe. Use only firm avocadoes and only add a few chunks for optimal results.