This recipe is from the blog, Delish, with very few changes.

Eggplant is not bacon.  However, it CAN taste a lot like bacon if you season and cook it this way!  What are the benefits of eggplant bacon?

Well, it’s made from a vegetable, so you can eat as much as you want without feeling sick and lying on the floor moaning.  Yeah – there’s also the less fat, less sodium, no chemicals, and  more fiber arguments.  So, if you’d like a suggestion of bacon flavor that’s smoky and yummy – then try this:

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T Liquid Aminos (or clean soy sauce)
• 1 t pure maple syrup
• 1/2 t paprika
• 1/2 t liquid smoke (I like Wright’s brand because it doesn’t contain chemicals or colors)
• black pepper

The Process

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Slice the eggplant in rounds about 1/4” thick.  Don’t stress about the size, just try to make them a uniform width so they’ll cook at the same rate.

  

  Slice them evenly, but don’t agonize about exactly how thick they are. If they’re the same, then they’ll cook at the same rate.

• Mix together the other ingredients in a small dish.
• Lay out the eggplant rounds on a baking sheet covered with either parchment paper or silpat.  Brush each side of the rounds with the seasoning.

  

  I used a silicone brush to slather these rounds with smoky deliciousness.

• Bake the rounds for 30 minutes, then flip them.
• Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer, till they’re nicely browned, cooked through and just starting to get firm.
• Let them rest and come to room temperature.

  

  A little wrinkled, but yummy!

Honestly, I ate half the pan “sampling” them the first time I made these.  I feel like they make a great side dish just as they are. 

I’ve also chopped them up and relied on them to turn a boring salad into a BACONY, SMOKY salad.  I’ve used them in breakfast scrambles, atop soups, mixed with other vegetables, and in a brown rice pasta dish with cauliflower sauce.  Yum!

However you use them, please try this!  It’s kinda mind-blowing, and very easy.

For the original video on the Delish site, click here

Enjoy!

Roslyn Graham