Vegetarian Recipe of the Day: Bean Bacon

This Bean Bacon is made from Soybeans (Tofu) and it is sooooo delicious! I was craving bacon, and this Vegetarian Bacon made for up for it. This one is crispy, but you can cook it as long as you like. Featured with Naturally Southern Fried Potatoes, Cage Free Scrambled Eggs, and Honey Toast. For the Nutritional Value, go the the bottom of the Blog.

Ingredients:

1 lb Tofu, drained and patted dry (Extra Firm or Firm) If using Firm, wrap the Tofu in a clean washcloth for a couple of hours in the refrigerator to remove additional water.

2 C Water

1 C Soy Sauce (or Coconut Aminos)

2 T Tomato Paste

2 T Worcestershire Sauce (or Vegan Worcestershire Sauce)

2 T Liquid Smoke (or Smoked Paprika)

2T Maple Syrup (or Blackburn's Butter Maple)

Nutritional Yeast Flakes (not seen, optional)

Directions:

1. Place 2 Cups of water in a large bowl. Add 2 Tablespoons of Tomato Paste and whisk.

2. Add 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce, 2 Tablespoons of Liquid Smoke, and 2 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup (I used Blackburn's Butter Maple because it tastes just like Maple Syrup). Side note: Tomato Paste is usually sold in large cans and most recipes only call for 1 or 2 Tablespoons. So you can use an ice cube tray section (each cube is approximately 1 Tablespoon) and freeze it. Then once frozen, spoon them out, place them in a ziplock bag, and they are ready for the next recipe.

3. Add the 1 Cup of Soy Sauce and whisk together. (For those of you who are sodium sensitive, use the Coconut Aminos. The version with Soy Sauce has 33 calories and the version with Coconut Aminos has 13 calories per slice.)

4. Cut the 1 pound of Tofu into thin strips and place the Tofu into the Marinade. For best results, allow it to marinate overnight.

5. Once the Marinade has set overnight, you will notice that it is really salty. To correct that, sprinkle some Nutritional Yeast Flakes on it while it cooks.