Friday, October 14, 2011

Temp-fakin' (Tempeh Bacon)


It seems like bacon fever has calmed down a bit in the past few years. For a while, it was everywhere, on cupcakes, donuts, cookies, in chocolate and even ice cream. I can't say that I love bacon that much to eat it in ice cream, but there are several dishes I've had to forego over the years as a vegetarian. Sure, there's fake bacon out there, but it's full of chemicals and who knows what else. 

I saw tempeh bacon at Whole Foods, and though I'd give it a try. Then I saw it was double the price of regular tempeh, so I took the challenge on and tried making my own. I can't say this tastes exactly like bacon, but boy is it close! My husband even commented that it smelled like bacon as I was cooking. Since coming up with this recipe, I've used it in many dishes, like Hawaiian Pizza (shown below), wedge salads, with eggs and English Muffins, and on BLTs. It's a keeper for sure! 

Temp-fakin' (Tempeh Bacon)

1 package of plain tempeh, sliced into strips
2 tbsp. EVOO
2 tbsp. pure maple syrup
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder (or smash a clove and leave it in the marinade)

Whisk together EVOO, syrup, soy sauce, liquid smoke, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.
Add tempeh, toss to coat evenly.
Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 day, tossing occasionally.
Heat a skillet over medium-high, cook tempeh until golden crisp on each side, about 3-5 minutes (be careful not to burn it!)



4 comments:

VegeCooking Club said...

This looks SOOO good Ash. I need to get some of the liquid smoke.

Kelly said...

Sounds delicious. You're probably better off making your own anyway as I have to say, I wasn't too impressed with the store bought version. One thing I did try a year and a half ago was making some eggplant bacon in the food dehydrator. I had it atop some avocado skins at a raw restaurant back when I was living in Boston. I started experimenting myself and never quite nailed the recipe, but even the experiments were quite delicious.

Ashlee said...

Kelly - That sounds amazing! I saw Cara one time made an eggplant bacon recipe that looked awesome, too!

K1Frog2 said...

Just made your tempeh bacon this morning after marinating it all night. It smelled delish while cooking and even got my omnivorous son's attention. Didn't taste like bacon, but it had a nice texture and flavor. A great alternative. I made TLTs (Tempeh, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwhiches) for lunch with the leftovers. Thanks for the recipe!