Thursday, July 2, 2009

Vegan Smoked Bacon Crumbs

I love smoked foods. Unfortunately the taste is mostly found in animal products (meats, fish flesh, and those delicious smoked cheeses...). Thankfully, there is this thing called smoked salt, which, added to your recipes, renders that special flavor.

I used it for the first time to make a mean baked beans dip. Then my friend Yasmin seasoned a Cajun stew with it, and I believe it made the flavor more subtil and "authentic". I also substituted it to regular salt in simple black beans and it made me feel like a Woman of the Wild West... (Yes, some simple American things are still exotic to me and evoke a mythical past!)

My favorite smoked creation is fake bacon crumbs made with crushed almonds. It's a great way of making use of the almond pulp that remains after making your own almond milk. Almonds give the "fakon bits" a pleasant crunchy texture.

You can sprinkle it on a simple salad, or include it in a vegan quiche.

this salad never knew what hit it...


Ingredients
1 cup of Almond Pulp
3 tbsp* Smoked Salt
2 tbsp* wheat-free tamari (or any soy sauce)
Vegetable oil (1 tbsp, to cover the bottom of the dish)
*I never bother to measure...


unsung heroes: wheat-free tamari and hickory smoked salt

Equipment
oven dish with a large flat surface




Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350º
Mix the ingredients until you reach desired taste (it should be VERY salty and smoky)
Lay the pulp flat on a dish
Roast for about 30 minutes (do check regularly, the time depends on the oven and the amount of pulp)
It should come out brown, but watch out because it burns easily if roasted for too long. Take it out of the oven when it's brown but not too much. Actually, some bits might still be light brown and a little wet: they'll become all dry and crunchy while cooling down.

the finished product

bacon bits make this simple salad very exciting


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