I am so excited to be sharing another great cookbook with you today—Baconish! The premise of the book, written by Leinana Two Moons of the blog Vegan Good Things, is bacon! Veggie bacon, to be more precise. Each recipe in this book features a different type of plant based bacon—and they are all delicious! We’ve tried several recipes from the book already, and have several more corners folded down for next week.
^^^ Butternut Squash Carbonara
The book is divided into a few sections. The first is dedicated to make-you-own bacons. Eggplant bacon, carrot bacon, mushroom bacon, coconut bacon…..you get the idea. Basically, Leinana included the instructions to turn just about anything into bacon! Ok, maybe not everything, but she gives so many choices! Pick your favorites or try them all!
^^^ Carrot Bacon!
After the DIY bacon section she goes into different sections—Breakfast, Soups, Salads, Sandwiches, Sides, Mains, and Sweets. Most of the recipes include beautiful photographs, and the instructions are all well written and easy to follow. In the back of the book Leinana has an entire section of her favorite store bought veggie bacon items—bacon flavored chips, bacon bits, and bacon strips—all vegan, of course! For nights that you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to make your own bacon you can refer to her guide. I saw lots of my favorites in the list.
I am obsessed with the Maple-Bacon Donuts. They are seriously the best. I may have eaten 3 full size donuts within 6 hours of making them. I just couldn’t help myself. Fluffy maple donuts, topped with a sweet glaze, and then sprinkled with crunchy coconut bacon (using the recipe also in the book) on top! By the way, the coconut bacon recipe is reason enough to buy the book, so good!
^^^ Maple-Bacon Donuts
We made the Butternut Squash Carbonara for dinner this week. Again, delicious! The sauce was perfectly creamy, and healthy too. We topped it with our favorite store bough bacon, Upton’s Naturals. Everyone had happy tummies that night!
^^^ Butternut Squash Carbonara
One of the most “fun” recipes was the Miss Piggy Strawberry Ice Cream. Such a clever concept—pink strawberry ice cream with chocolate covered coconut bacon. Seriously, you could skip right over the ice cream and just eat the chocolate bacon—YUM! The consistency of ours didn’t turn out quite right—it froze super solid and it was a little hard to scoop, so I might use my ice cream machine to church it next time. The flavor was delicious though! Humbling moment—I had to explain to David who Miss Piggy was—how does he not know? Am I that old?
^^^ David had SO much fun making Miss Piggy ice cream. He’s had a bowl every day this week!
^^^ Miss Piggy Strawberry Ice Cream
I made the BLT Pasta this week with the Upton’s bacon as well—it was really good! I subbed kale for the spinach that was called for, as I already had it in my fridge, and topped it with basil. Both boys had thirds, and begged for more. Then they fought over who got the leftovers the next day—a super hit.
^^^ BLT Pasta
Another delicious favorite is the Brussels Sprouts. Rather than roasting them in the oven they are cooked on the stove top. They stay really crispy that way—because there’s nothing worse than soggy mushy Brussels Sprouts, right? They are of course finished with bacon, and tons of shallots too. So delicious! We’ve made them twice in the last two weeks, and Irving already requested them again. And guess what? I get to share the recipe with you!
^^^ Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Shallots
One recipe not enough? Ok, twist my arm, I’ve got a copy of this book to give to one lucky winner! Enter below (allllll the way at the bottom)—don’t worry, it’s easy—and share with your friends! Don’t want to chance it? Order your copy today!
Other stops on the Baboonish Blog Tour (with more recipes and chances to win!):
Glue and Glitter — Quiche Lorraine
Veggies Save the Day — Coconut Bacon
Fran Costigan — Coconut Bacon
Vegan Street —Quiche Lorraine
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Shallots, 4 to 6 servings
Shallots and vegan bacon are caramelized with a bit of brown sugar to add just a touch of sweetness to the earthiness of the Brussels sprouts in this recipe. I prefer my Brussels on the crisp-crunchy side, but feel free to cook them longer if you like them more well done.
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 large shallots, sliced paper thin
5 to 6 slices of your favorite vegan bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, stems trimmed, halved (quartered if large)
1/3 cup dry white wine
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and bacon and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until the shallots are translucent. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and continue cooking until the shallots are browned and caramelized. Set aside.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the Brussels sprouts to the pan in a single layer, cut-side down. Leave undisturbed 2 to 3 minutes before stirring, to help them brown and caramelize. Continue to cook and stir occasionally until the Brussels sprouts turn bright green. Add the white wine to the Brussels sprouts, cover immediately, and steam for 2 minutes. Uncover and cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the Brussels sprouts are tender, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the shallot-bacon mixture and serve hot.
From Baconish © 2016 by Leinana Two Moons. Used with permission from Vegan Heritage Press.
Ready to win your own copy? Follow the prompts below—I’ll be announcing a winner next Saturday! Good luck!
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