Avocado Bacon Corn Panzanella Salad

This Avocado Bacon Corn Panzanella Salad was created in connection with my appointment as a contributor to the Nakano Natural and Seasoned Rice Vinegar. I have been compensated for my time commitment to work with their product, however my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. 

This Avocado Bacon Corn Panzanella Salad (or ABC Salad, as I’ve been calling it) isn’t your traditional Panzanella. It is, however, absolutely knock-your-socks-off delicious and full of so many of my favorite flavors. I basically built this salad just by thinking of all the things I wanted to eat and then mixing them together. Some of the best recipes are made that way! I’m positively enamored with the crusty bread cubes, buttery avocado, juicy tomatoes, sweet corn, smoky bacon and the tangy mustard-bacon vinaigrette and I’m pretty sure you all will be too. Not only is this salad bursting with flavor, but it’s super filling and only 222 calories or 7 Green, 6 Blue or 6 Purple Weight Watchers SmartPoints per serving! To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here! It’s perfect for lunches, to serve at a brunch, or even in smaller portions as a side dish or starter.

If you’ve already seen my posts for Mediterranean Topped Grilled Chicken, Antipasto Salad and Apricot Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken, you know I have been working with Nakano Rice Vinegar throughout the summer to cook up some super flavorful lightened up recipes, and this Avocado Bacon Corn Panzanella Salad is no exception! I love how Nakano’s rice vinegars are free of artificial ingredients, flavors and preservatives, and they have a great variety of flavors (like citrus or roasted garlic) which makes them super versatile for use in recipes. The Original seasoned flavor that I used in the dressing for this salad is mildly tangy and slightly sweet which is ideal for dressings, marinades and on any type of salad.

Want to try the tasty flavors of Nakano Rice Vinegar for yourself? Here’s a downloadable coupon you can use in stores! You can also sign up to receive more recipes using Nakano products like my ABC Panzanella Salad or Mediterranean Topped Grilled Chicken, along with cooking tips and coupons delivered to your inbox. Just subscribe to the Nakano e-newsletter by clicking here.

If you haven’t yet signed up to receive my recipes by email, you can also join the Emily Bites email list by following this link!

For more delicious salad recipes, check out the Salad category of my Recipe Index for recipes like my Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad, Harvest Apple Salad, Greek Orzo Pasta Salad, Hummus Chicken Salad, Cheeseburger Salad, Farmer’s Market Berry Salad, Doritos Taco Salad, Chicken Souvlaki Salad and more!

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Avocado Bacon Corn Panzanella Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

Calories: 222kcal

Crusty bread cubes, buttery avocado, juicy tomatoes, sweet corn, and smoky bacon in a tangy mustard-bacon vinaigrette!

Yield: 4 (1 1/3 cups) servings

Ingredients

• 4 oz French bread, cut into cubes
• 1 ½ cups chopped cherry and/or grape tomatoes
• 1 cup freshly cooked corn cut off the cob
• ½ medium avocado, cut into cubes (if not serving immediately you may want to toss the avocado cubes in lemon juice to prevent browning)
• 4 slices center cut bacon, chopped
• 1 tablespoon bacon grease
• 2 tablespoons Nakano Original Seasoned Rice Vinegar
• 2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 325. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray. Lay the bread cubes in a single layer and mist with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes.*
• Combine* the toasted bread cubes, the tomatoes, the corn and the avocado in a mixing bowl and lightly toss together.
• *While the bread cubes are baking, place the chopped bacon in a medium skillet and bring over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until bacon pieces are crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a stack of paper towels to drain. Transfer a tablespoon of the bacon grease from the pan into a bowl to make the dressing. Add the rice vinegar, mustard, canola oil, water, pepper, salt and onion powder to the bacon grease in the bowl and whisk together until well combined.
• Add the bacon pieces to the salad mixture from step two and stir together. Toss the salad in the dressing before serving. Each serving makes about 1 1/3 cups of salad tossed in about a tablespoon of dressing.
• If you will not be serving the entire salad at once, store the unused bread cubes in a Ziploc bag, the rest of the salad mixture tossed together in the refrigerator, and the dressing stored separately in the refrigerator. You will want to heat the dressing leftovers before using again because the bacon grease will cause it to thicken when cool.

Notes

To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!

Nutrition Information per (1 1/3 cups) serving:

222 calories, 29 g carbs, 6 g sugars, 10 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 7 g protein, 3 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)

MyWW SmartPoints per (1 1/3 cups) serving: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

Green: 7 SmartPoints/ Blue: 6 SmartPoints/ Purple: 6 SmartPoints

Weight Watchers Points Plus:

6 per (1 1/3 cups) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers brand PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition information below)

Author: Emily Bites

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Bread Salad, Mustard Bacon Dressing, Weight Watchers, WW Salad