I finally came across a recipe for a vegan and gluten free tempeh-like bacon that I could handle. I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. So excited, I had to make the vegan bacon that night. So maybe there was a little bit of instant gratification going on there. 

For a little history, I’ve never really eaten the real thing. Not even in the days when I didn’t keep kosher. I have had beef-fry, bacon salt and bacon bits. I know that those don’t count. I do like a smoky bacony flavor though. So I was excited to try my hand at this. I was doubly excited to turn this in to a BLT. Something I have never sunk my teeth into, but always looks so good. The results were great. The other good thing about this fake bacon stuff is that it freezes well and is pretty versatile.

Vegan Bacon
slightly adapted from No Meat Athlete

1/2 cup dried adzuki beans or other small red beans
1/3 cup whole kasha (buckwheat groats)
1 tsp.onion powder
3 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. liquid smoke
4 tsp. nutritional yeast
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tbsp. tamari or soy sauce
1.5 tsp. sea salt
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons maple syrup

Soak the beans and buckwheat in a bowl for several hours. I let it sit while I went to work.

When you get home, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Strain and rinse the soaked beans and buckwheat.

Place all of the ingredients, including the strained beans and buckwheat in to your food processor. Pulse until everything is uniformly ground up and pasty. Don’t puree it though.

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Spray with baking spray.

Spread the mixture out on the paper.

Press down on the mixture to spread out with another piece of sprayed parchment.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Let cool.

Slice in to bacon-like strips.

Store and freeze at this point, or cook up like bacon!

1/2 a recipe of the vegan bacon
3 tsp.oil of your choice
Earth Balance buttery stick – a few tabs
4 slices of bread (I used Rye)
Lettuce
Thinly sliced tomatoes

Vegan Mayonaisse (or you could use the real stuff if you are in to that sort of thing)

Fry the vegan bacon on medium in an oiled pan.

Let it get to your desired crispness. Don’t let it go too long or at too high of a heat as it burns quickly.

Set aside on a paper towel lined plate. Keep in a warm spot.

In that same pan, melt some of the Earth Balance.  Toast your bread in that buttery spread. 

Spread mayo on each slice. 

Layer with lettuce then vegan bacon and then the tomatoes. Top with the second slice toasted bread.

You’ve got a sandwich now!  Take a bite! This was so good! 

Enjoy!