Vegan Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich (BLT)

 I feel that during lockdown, dinner became the focal point of the day – it did in my house, at least. Like many people, we started trying out some ~fancier~ recipes, and I took the opportunity to start trying to veganise some of my favourite recipes. I’ve tried macaroni cheese, lasagne, chilli con carne, spaghetti Bolognese and some lunchtime wraps and soups. It’s going well, so far. I feel that, if and when I commit to going fully vegan, it’ll be all the easier for having a few tricks already up my sleeve.

I feel like mince is fairly easy to replicate, as is the flavour of cheese once you’ve got your hands on some nutritional yeast. However, I’ve always been dubious about vegan bacon. I’ve read lots of recipes using tofu, and even tried a few, but I wrote it off as too much hassle – draining tofu isn’t hard, but it’s time consuming, and requires you to plan ahead, something I’m rubbish at.

Then, I had a brainwave: what if I used the same ingredients for the marinade, but used it with mushrooms? They’re generally my starting point when I’m replacing meat in a dish (pro-tip: when making a curry, roast them in the oven or dry-fry them to reduce the firm up the texture, and add them to a curry sauce) and they’re far cheaper and easier to find than tofu, Quorn or seitan.

So, I tried it – and bite my leg and call me Brenda if I didn’t have a fully vegan BLT!

Here it is – enjoy! (The original recipe using tofu is here, video here)

 

Ingredients

Bread, 2 slices

Mushrooms (about 5 or 6)

Lettuce (whatever you have; I used 2 leaves of little gem)

Tomatoes (1 large in slices, or a handful of cherry tomatoes)

Vegan Mayo

Plant butter

Dark soy sauce

Liquid smoke

Balsamic vinegar

1 splash oil (any kind)

Pinch salt

 

Method

Start by heating a splash of oil in non-stick frying pan on high heat. I used olive oil, but I don’t think it matters too much which kind you use.

Now, slice the mushrooms. Try and slice them reasonably thinly, but don’t worry about it too much if you can’t.

The pan should be hot by now. Try adding a mushroom slice; if the oil is hot enough, it will sizzle and you can add the rest. If it doesn’t, just wait until this happens.

Once all the mushrooms have been added, stir them around and then add a dash of the liquid smoke, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce. Stir the mushrooms around to allow them to soak up the marinade. There will be a small amount of liquid in the pan, but as it cooks it will thicken and get sticky. 

While the mushrooms are cooking, get ready to assemble the sandwich. Spread the two slices of bread with plant butter (if using) and a generous helping of vegan mayo. Slice the tomatoes.

Cook the mushrooms until all the liquid has evaporated and they are dark in colour, looking slightly charred – this will help them to taste like bacon.

Now, put it all together and enjoy!

Of course, mushrooms in disguise as bacon are never going to fool anyone, but they have a delicious, smoky taste because of the liquid smoke, and they’re crispy and chewy at the same time. Now, I have them with everything – jacket potatoes, salads, veggie burgers, they jazz up every meal, and they’re easy and quick to make.

Basically, they’re the best and I’m a genius. Now get cooking!

(It did fool my cat)