Fake bacon, is that blasphemy?

One of the things I don't want to live without, bacon.  I have found some bacon alternatives. Some are good, some

Fakin' Bacon
Morning Star Farms Bacon
Homemade Bacon Tempeh
Tofurky Smoky Maple Bacon.


Homemade Bacon Tempeh

I decided tor try out making my own and playing with the flavors. I got a pecan flavored liquid smoke.  

 I've not used Tempeh before. So I have no idea what it is like or how to use it.  So I sliced them like small thick slices of bacon.

 Mixed up the marinade in a bowl.

 I let it marrinade in a plastic baggie for a few hours.

 It did soak up pretty well.

After frying on one side and dumping the marinade in the pan.  It did get a lot more color to it.

 It does have a smoky smell.  Some garlic and onion powder would have been nice.  And maybe some black pepper to make it like a peppered bacon.

But it did have  good taste of bacon.  Not the texture of bacon however.  I will be trying this again.

I give homemade bacon a 5 out of 10.

MorningStar Farms Bacon Strips


No matter what anyone says, this isn't even close to be like bacon.  It's chewy and has not much of a taste.  Other than smoke or burned maybe.  I won't be buying this again myself.



As far as bacon, this gets a 2 out of 10.  Only reason it got a 2 is because it looks like bacon.  Taste and texture suck.


Fakin Bacon

I found this at a local health food store and decided to give it a try.

It smells like bacon.  It has a nice smoky scent.

 It does fry up well.  It holds together pretty well.  I only had one piece stick to the pan and break.

6 out of 10 for this bacon.

 This is a bit thinner then the one I made and crisps up pretty well.  It still has an odd texture, but the flavor is there.  It is a close bacon substitute.

Tofurky Smoky Maple Bacon.  I have to admit, I have very low expectations at this point.

 The photo doesn't show the strips very well.  So this worries me.  It does have a smoky maple smell, so that is a good sign.

It fries up really well.  Perfect size and smells.  It smells pretty close to bacon.  I made a bacon sandwich.  And it was really good.  This is actually the best bacon out of the tempeh style.

8.5 out of 10 for this one

Lastly I have one made from seitan.

I find the look of it odd.  It reminds me of gyro meat. 

6 out of 10 for pure texture.  

It fries up very well. It has no smell to it and really no taste.  I liked the texture of it, so I think I will have to try to make my own bacon from seitan.



I will be examining some other meat substitutes next.  Lunch meat, Veggie burgers and sausage.

The Veggies Strike Back! I have some new favorite recipes.

This week I think I liked every recipe I have tried. But there are a couple that are now my favorites! I made Chorizo Tacos with my TVP Chorizo. This week I also made Curried Cranberry Couscous, with a few tweaks. Japanese-Style Braised Tofu thanks to a good friend. Pineapple Cashew Quinoa Curry Bowl and the best recipe, Jalapeno Popper Pasta.  And Black-Bean and Quinoa burgers.

Chorizo Tacos

The Chorizo Tacos were very simple.  I used the TVP Chorizo I had premade and frozen. I took it out the night before, but you could use it right out of the freezer also.  I added a little oil to the pan and heated the chorizo up a little.

 Just need meat, shells, lettuce, cheese, onions, taco sauce and some re-fried beans.

 I made my own refried beans.  I took a cam of black beans, added some garlic, onion and taco sauce.  Heated it up and used a potato masher to smooth them out.

 Heat the tortillas in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.  Top with some beans and a little cheese.

 In a hard shell, add chorizo, taco sauce, onions, cheese and some lettuce.

 This is just like Taco John's Taco Brovo.  Only better.

Can just be a taco, hard or soft shell.

Curried Cranberry Couscous Pilaf. 

 Do you know how hard it is to find cranberries in May/June?  Impossible.  So I did a few changes to this recipe. It isn't exactly the same recipe, but pretty close.

  I used Whole Cranberry sauce in place of the cranberries.  I also added some golden raisins.  I had planned on adding some pecans also. But was distracted by the great smells of this dish.  Next time I will add pecans.

 I prepped all my ingredients.  And started the couscous.  Pearl Couscous is bigger then the usually couscous.

Garnished with a little parsley.  I'm thinking next time maybe some mint.














Japanese-Style Braised Tofu
This is now one of my favorite recipes!  It was really flavorful and nice and light.  It made for a great spring/summer dinner.  And it was pretty good next day as leftovers. Thanks Isabelle for the great recommendation!

 Miso paste it turns out is harder to find than I expected.  I went to three stores, but I was happy to find a ginger miso, so I used that. I also found some white miso paste, so I will be having this again with that one to compare.

 Really, this is simple to make.

 Mine turned out kind of dark, but the miso I used was also a darker miso.

To reheat, I heated the tofu in a storage container for a couple minutes or until hot.  Then placed fresh spinach leaves and returned the lid.  Let stand for a minute and enjoy.

Pineapple, Cashew, Quinoa, Pineapple Curry Bowl

 This is a simple recipe, with a big name and big flavors.  It also has lots of texture.

 Diced up all the veggies at once and began to saute them.

 I started the quinoa first thing because I hate to wait.

With the veggies and spices this dish smells so good.

I will be making this again.  Lots of protein in here with the quinoa and tofu.

Jalapeno Popper Pasta

This taste just like a jalapeno popper.  Next time I make this I plan on making some chicken flavor seitan to add to it.  Or maybe some bacon alternative.

As usuall, I added more garlic.  And I used 3 jalapenos.  I also used pepper cheese to add more heat.

The toasting of the breadcrumbs we done first.  Because I was scared  I would burn them.  I didn't, so this worked well.

I cooked the peppers and onions together.

I started the noodles first thing. I used whatever I had on hand.

The sauce will thinken a bit when the pasta is added..

I'm wasn't sure about the breadcrumbs, but they do make the dish.

I have tried another burger recipe.  Black Bean and Qunioa burgers with Baked Zucchini Fries. 

The burgers were pretty good.  And I followed the recipe totally.  The mix was very loose, so it was hard to make the patty.  I would ether let them sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.  But I used my Tupperware burger makers, but with a little difference than normal.

Pampered Chef has this great Manual Food Processor.  It's perfect to mince onions and garlic.  I was feeling lazy and wanted to make sure they were finely chopped for the burgers.  So I used it.  It's also great for cracker crumbs.




 Cooking the onions and half the beans at first seamed odd.  But then you but that in the food processor.  I used my big one for this.  Since I wanted the mixture to be smooth.

 The fries are great for a side.  And healthy.  I didn't have Parmesan cheese, so I used Nutritional Yeast Seasoning since in vegan recipes that is what is used.

Just slice up the zucchini and run through the egg bath and breadcrumb mixture.

Bake and enjoy.  I served them with a side of pasta sauce for dipping.

 I formed the burgers right on the greased pan using the burger smasher and ring.  After I pressed, I just had to twist the smasher and lift up so the mixture didn't stick. The recipe says 8 burgers, 1/2 of mixture.  but I got 4 and a thick 5th.

 The fries turned out perfect!

I also topped the burger with a little pasta sauce.  All was very good.