Monday, July 26, 2010

Breakfast sandwich.

I have never, ever been a fan of bacon, even when I was nowhere near  vegetarian.  It's greasy and chewy and overall not nice, in my opinion.  I have eaten veggie bacon about once, at university, and it was chemically-tasting and the texture was just ...odd.  And I think that the veggie rashers for sale in Townsville have eggwhite in them (though I've never really checked closely).  And I've never made tempeh bacon -- we rarely buy tempeh, and don't have key ingredients like liquid smoke -- so I haven't had a vegan version of the crispy pig strips in years.

However, I do miss me a good breakfast sandwich.  Breakfast (or rather, brunch) has long been my favourite meal because I love the blending of sweet and savoury.  Andy is a bit of a breakfast grinch, and believes that sweet and savoury should rarely meet -- particularly not in his breakfast.

So when he was in Thailand a few weeks ago, I took the opportunity to sweet'n'savoury-it-up.

I marinated a few thinly sliced pieces of tofu in a mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, cider vinegar and olive oil.  Then I cooked them in my cast iron pan until they were pretty crunchy.  Layered on toast with the ripest red market tomato, and slightly obscene amount of avocado, this was the perfect combination of sweet and salty.

I have recreated this simple marinade a few times since then, and Andy loves it, too -- for dinner at least.

13 comments:

Carissa said...

I bet it was sooo good! I love avocado so much.

Hannah said...

That sounds/looks amazing! I've not yet managed to make a baked tofu that tastes as delicious as it does in my mind... do you have a specific recipe for this marinade, or do you just wing it?

P.S. I dislike bacon with a fiery passion too. Even the smell makes me queasy!

Theresa said...

Hannah - it's about 2 T. soy sauce, 1 T. brown sugar, 2 T. cider vinegar and 2 T. olive oil. Or those ratios upscaled for more tofu. It's good baked or fried. And good with chilli too.

Mihl said...

Tofu is so much better than bacon! That looks fantastic!

Bianca said...

That almost like a BTLA minus the L. Yum! I love veggie bacon in all of its forms. But I confess that I was a bacon lover in a former non-veg life.

Toby said...

It looks like a good breakfast!
Full of protein!

urban vegan said...

Looks and sounds wonderful. I love tempeh bacon...but I like anything smoked (Except meat, of course, lol)

Vaala ◪ said...

That looks really awesome for any time of the day! I used to be really rigid about what I'd have for breakfast but now I'll eat anything. If I had time in the mornings (i.e. if I was actually home and not eating at my desk) I'd probably have stir fry or something. And sweet and savoury go so well. I'll have to try your marinade for my tofu next time.

Morgan@LittleHouseofVeggies said...

That DOES look tasty. And I always spread on an obscene amount of avocado!

Susan said...

That looks great. :) I love smokey tofu and tempeh... much better than the processed 'bacon'. The Sanitarium does have eggwhites in it (and is gross, if I remember from my vegetarian days), and the Redwood one is just meh. Why have processed when you can make your own?

dreaminitvegan said...

Yum!

dreaminitvegan said...

That's one good looking sandwich! I love tofu sandwiches they are also quick and easy to make!

Jessica said...

Delicious! I've never tried cooking tofu until it was crisp. I've got to give this one a try!

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