In April, Tabitha Brown rocked the world with her viral carrot bacon video proving that you really can turn anything vegan. The positive response of so many also let me know that the aversion some have to vegan food is mainly from pre-conceived notions of vegan food conjuring up stereotypical images of say…a plate of grass with a side of leaves. So my objective with this is to make a point that with the right seasoning – you won’t be able to tell the difference between the foods you traditional eat and its veganized counterparts.
My coconut bacon video was created to show people that when you’re craving meat, it’s not the meat you’re craving, but rather “umami” – the 5th flavor receptor right after sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Umami is like a savory flavor or a meaty flavor—and you can achieve it with healthy, plant-based ingredients! Behold, the coconut bacon recipe – which when applied to both shaved coconuts and carrots, result in the same outcome: the taste of bacon. The concoction is for the flavor, and the two foods I chose to apply it to is for their texture and appearance. Shaved carrots look like bacon strips. Shredded coconut looks like bacon bits.
Coconut Bacon
Ashley Renne is a vegan and sustainable lifestyle expert and host on Smart. Healthy. Green. Living, a new streaming service that delivers favorite home, garden and living content to smart TVs, phones, laptops, tablets and gaming consoles.
Ingredients
1 tsp Tamari
1tsp Liquid Smoke
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
A pinch of Pepper (optional – don’t add if you don’t want a peppery taste)
½ cup Coconut Flakes
Directions
Lightly toast your coconut flakes in a dry pan. Set it aside to cool. Mix the tamari, liquid smoke, and maple syrup together. Put the pan back on the stove and add your bacon mixture. Stir on low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and it’ll get crispy as it cools. Done, done, and done.
You can add the same mixture to shaved carrots. Peel your carrots into strips. Marinate it in your mixture for a few minutes. Put the strips in an air fryer for 5 minutes at 380 degrees. And the result is crispy carrot bacon. Thassit. Easy peasy.
