Tempeh Bacon

Tempeh Bacon

There's almost nothing I love more than breakfast. Especially savory breakfasts- they're kinda my thing. In fact, I have such a distaste for sweets in the morning that if I have any before noon, I usually get sick. But back to breakfast- I like it. A lot. Breakfast is the first (and supposedly most important) meal of the day, so I usually try to make it hearty and delicious, and adding a side of tempeh bacon does just that. A little smokey, a little crunchy, and two ways to cook it up! It's great by itself, but even better in a breakfast sandwich or crumbled into a bowl of creamy polenta. And why go out and buy it when you can make it at home? More rewarding and more delicious! Need a few things to pair it with? Try our Rye & Vegg French Toast or South of the Border Scramble!

Ingredients:
1- 8 ounce block of tempeh
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
1 tablespoon Braggs liquid aminos or soy sauce
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)

Directions:
In a shallow dish or bowl, whisk together everything but the tempeh. (This is your marinade.) Set aside.
Remove tempeh from wrapper. Slice lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick 'bacon' slices.  Gently place tempeh into marinade, using a spoon to scoop excess marinade over the tempeh slices to coat completely. Cover and place in the fridge at least 3 hours, but as long as overnight if you can. Try to flip the tempeh slices or use the spoon trick several more times while  marinating to ensure even flavor. The longer it marinates, the more bacon flavor it will have!
Once tempeh is ready, pour off excess marinade. At this point you can choose to bake or fry the bacon; 

To bake it, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place strips onto  a greased pan and bake for 30 minutes, flipping half-way through. Remove, let cool for several minutes, and eat up!

To fry it, simply heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan and add slices, cooking until golden and crisp before flipping. Remove from heat when strips are uniformly golden and crisp and blot on paper towels to remove excess oil (or don't). Serve immediately. 
Bacon saves well in a resealable bag or container for about a week. Great on salads & sammies, too!

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