Epic Fake Bacon BLTs - a New Summer Classic!
A couple of years ago I realized that the wise move for me diet-wise was to go mostly vegetarian. And truth be told there were over these last years a few turkey sandwiches that snuck into my routine, but 1-2 of those over a couple months might end up as 10/yr so that was not too bad. Over time though besides being advised to eat some fish, salmon in particular, I have become fastidious even, disciplined and I think it has impacted my health in a positive way. I found lots of great recipes and solid advice from the luminaries in this area: Caldwell Esselstyn, Valter Longo, Joel Kahn, Joel Fuhrman. They have all authored great books on the subject of diet and its major impacts on health and I would recommend to anyone to read them.
Over time too, I discovered that some of the plant-based hamburger recipes and premade hamburger concoctions you can now buy in any grocery are fine substitutes for beef. That was nice because back in the day I enjoyed a good hamburger. It was a summer ritual whether grilled over a wood fire, oven baked or barbequed on a back yard grill. It is true, hamburgers were something I missed as a plant eater but the excellent plant-based alternatives revived for me the classic American dish – a summer hamburger.
One thing however I had not discovered until this summer was a substitute meat for another classic summer sandwich, the BLT. This year I grew the best crop of beefsteak tomatoes I have ever grown. I should have been weighing the crop because I think it easily topped 50 lbs.
So, I had to find a solution. I tried fake bacon and surprise, surprise it was not bad as a sandwich component! So, it has been a summer of fake bacon BLTs. The fake bacon is ok, but really it is just an excuse to eat tomatoes off the vine in between a toasted bagel sliced in The Nicer Slicer and that is just awesome. Then I discovered Dave’s Epic Everything Bagels. What a game changer with a list of healthy ingredients and excellent flavor! Once toasted, they slice nicely in The Nicer Slicer and they make for an Epic Fake Bacon BLT!
So that is interesting and another example of where The Nicer Slicer enhances flavor while reducing calories and cost. I took a couple shots of the BLTs a la toasted, sliced bagel below before eating them for lunch. Check them out! Enjoy! If you don’t have a Nicer Slicer, get one. You will be glad you did.
Today’s lunch, probably tomorrow’s as well.
