Conventional bacon is chock-full of calories and fat and is often made from low-quality meat. But eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to go without the smoky, salty goodness that bacon provides.

Who better than Mother Nature to provide us with a compromise? When she made eggplant, she also gave bacon-lovers near and far a healthy, animal-free alternative to this guilty pleasure.

First, let’s break down why bacon can be bad for your health and physique. In just 3 ounces of cooked bacon, there are 763 calories, 85 grams of fat, 27 grams of saturated fat, 23 milligrams of sodium, and no fiber. These are off the chart quantities!

While enjoying bacon once in a while isn’t going to kill you, it’s a good idea to have an alternative up your sleeve so you can cut down on the fat and calorie overload. This recipe for vegan eggplant bacon is infused with the smoke and spice reminiscent of real bacon without the fat and salt overload. Enjoy!

Eggplant Bacon

Makes 8-10 slices

Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the eggplant, lengthwise, into thin slices. Use a mandolin slicer to make the job easier.

Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, cayenne, liquid smoke, and maple flavoring.  Set aside.

On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, brush an even layer of olive oil. Place eggplant slices on the greased baking sheet. Turn them around so that now both sides are lightly greased from the sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the eggplant begins to brown lightly.

Remove from the oven and brush both sides of the eggplant with the soy sauce and seasonings mixture. Bake for another 4-5 minutes. Be sure that they do not burn and become too hard. They should darken because of the soy sauce mixture and slightly crisp.

Set them aside to cool and bend them as you like so they cool in a shape similar to that of bacon. Enjoy in salads, sandwiches, or in this scrumptious bacon cup recipe.

Related on EcoSalon:

Grilled Eggplant Salad Recipe with Sun-Dried Tomato and Bocconcini

Overcooked: Bacon Bonanza

Image Credit: Dinner Series

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I didn’t think I was going to have to write this. I thought it had passed, but the bacon pairings just keep on coming. I love bacon. Really I do. A well-made BLT is one of life’s greatest pleasures. And bacon is delicious with many many things besides tomatoes and mayonnaise. Sweet things, savory things, chocolaty things, caramely things, beery things. But I’m just so tired of hearing about it. Can we go back to when bacon was bacon and bacon in something unusual was, well, unusual?

Products like bacon vodka and bacon coffee don’t even warrant a raised eyebrow any longer. As for bacon desserts, this piece details the history of bacon desserts going all the way back to 2004. Are we done yet?

So what is it that makes this trend so darn sticky and alluring?

I think it’s a potent combination of rebellion and conformity. During the height of fat phobia (remember when people were downing boxes of Snackwell’s cookies and wondering why they were still fat?) bacon and its entire ilk of delicious fatty pork products was forbidden. So even today, it still feels a little naughty to enjoy it. It’s sort of an outlaw foodie pleasure. Then came The Atkins Diet, essentially giving the finger to the fear of fat and introducing an aura of permissiveness when it comes to pork. These seemingly conflicting views on fat combined to make bacon incredibly HIP. That’s why we can’t let go of it. It helps that it’s salty, fatty, and crispy.

But it’s tired now. If you really want to be cutting edge, make your own bacon, fry it up in a pan and enjoy it with a couple of eggs and some toast.

Of course you can make your own bacon. Bloggers all over the country are doing it. Check out Charcutepalooza on Facebook and join the fun. This is a year-long project in which bloggers cook their way through Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie.

Not quite ready to take that on? Check out this recipe on Culinate. Peruse the bacon posts on Punk Domestics or go straight to Ruhlman’s recipe.

Now excuse me while I go order a few boxes of this Bacon-Chocolate Peanut Brittle. Come on, you’ve got to admit is sounds good.

I guess I will be a little sad when this trend finally dies.

Editor’s note: This is a new column by Vanessa Barrington. For the lighter side of all things foodie, read Overcooked weekly. Overcooked: helping you make the most of today’s trendiest ingredient…before it’s overdone. Be sure to catch Vanessa’s original EcoSalon column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

Image: Joelk75

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