Hug a Pig Today

Poor pigs! They’ve been getting a lot of bad press lately.

I love pigs.  I never eat them.  One of my favorite movies in the whole entire world is “Babe”.  (But not “Babe in the City”.  That is one wacky movie). Do yourself a favor - go rent it and watch it if you’ve never seen it.  It will give you a whole new appreciation for pigs - not to mention sheep dogs, geese, sheep, and James Cromwell (Farmer Hogg).

So to honor pigs, today I’m going to tell you about Tofu Bacon. Yeah, I know.  It seems weird.  But it’s really good.  (Ok, I think it’s great, but I have to admit I haven’t eaten a lick of pork in many many years).

I used to regularly buy and enjoy Morningstar Farms “bacon”.  But it is expensive.  Around 4.00 for a small package.  Plus, look at the ingredient list.  Wow! It’s a sciency-y food, alright.

So I haven’t bought that in a long time, but I’ve missed it.  My scrambled eggs missed it.

In my recent inquiries into the nature, uses, and “what-the-heck-is-it”ness of nutritional yeast, I came across a recipe for Tofu Bacon in “The Nutritional Yeast Cookbook”.  I decided to try it, and BINGO! - Houston, we have liftoff!  It’s really good, and a lot cheaper than commercial fake bac(on).  Even if you buy organic tofu, which is $2.49 a package at SuperTarget.  The other stuff I had, including the nutritional yeast (which is about $13.50 for a large cannister, but it goes far, because you seem to use it 1 TBSP at a time).

This recipe is pretty easy.  I did it two different  ways - baked in a 400 oven for 20 to 22 minutes, and also fried some up. It gets crispier the longer you let it sit, but as it sits in the fridge it does lose some of it’s crispiness, becoming a bit “rubbery”, but it’s still good.

The hard part, to me, was slicing the tofu really thin.  The thinner, the better for this recipe.  But the more times I do it, the better I’ll get, I’m sure.  I used to be a disaster at slicing bread, but now I’m a pro.  Practice, practice, practice.

Also, be careful when you’re turning the slices while marinating and cooking.  They can easily fall apart.

So now I’m going to give you the recipe but not the one from the book.  I always feel a little uneasy doing that, even though I don’t make any money from this blog.  But I found almost the exact recipe on the Internet, so I will give you that one:  here it is.

(Now, I’m not sure exactly how healthy this is, because it is high in sodium.  But it’s still better than the real thing.  Plus it’s healthier for our swine friends).

And just in case that link doesn’t work, which I think it doesn’t here it is in writing (from www.fatree.com):

Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 13:54:21 -0800
From: Richard and Sally Eddy (dobieluvrs@proaxis.com)
Message-Id: (3.0.5.32.20000319135421.007ab3b0@proaxis.com)

Tofu bacon

Another great flavor that we make BLT's out of, also from "Cooking with
PETA" is this bacon substitute.

1/2 cup soy sauce (low-sodium if available)
1 Tbs Nutritional yeast flakes
1 Tbs Maple syrup
1/2 Tbs Liquid Smoke
1/2 lb extra-firm regular tofu

Mix the soy sauce, yeast flakes, maple syrup and the liquid smoke together
in a shallow, flat container.  With a cheese slicer, shave the tofu into
thin slices.  Marinate in the mixture for 1 day or longer.
To cook, heat a non-stick griddle over medium-high heat.  When hot, fry the
tofu slices until they are golden brown and almost crispy on both sides,
scraping underneath the slices as you turn them with a sturdy spatula.
Turn several times during cooking and cool on the griddle( it will crisp as
it cooks).
I don't use the boxed tofu for this as it doesn't hold together well in the
marinade and you end up with small pieces, which can be used on salads.  We
have a local natural food co-op that makes there own tofu and I find that I
like to use theres as it is sturdier.  

kwvegan vegan

So there you have it (what happened to my font?  Oh, well. I think Tofu Bacon messed me up).
Today is a nice sunny day, so I'm going to do fun sunny-day stuff - solar cook,
groom the pooches, go to the library on my scooter. Hope you have a great day, too!