Sans Dehydrator

Good morning! Remember when I said I was trying another experiment with the eggplant bacon last night? Well, it proved successful! Cooking it long and low instead of hot and fast definitely enhanced the flavor and prevented burning. (I know, I know, that sentence is just loaded with double entendres!)

It’s the same recipe in the link, except I could not find a dried chili, so I just added some dried ground hot red pepper. Since I don’t have a dehydrator I placed these on my silicone baking sheets in the oven set a little under 200 degrees (200 is as low as my oven goes numerically), and as far as time, I honestly just kind of forgot about them! I think they were in there a couple hours, but they came out a great cross between chewy and crunchy, and they’re not burned! They are spicier though, and I think that was a combination between cooking at the lower temperatures and staying in the marinade a bit longer. So the official verdict is eggplant bacon can be done without a dehydrator!

I woke up this morning a mess of allergies, so I stumbled upon the first breakfast I found; a multigrain bagel with jam. Not the best, but it worked! (Please excused the flash! We have almost zero natural light in the apartment normally, but especially so when the sun hasn’t risen!)

I already have my lunch packed up and ready to go! It’s a salad with a romaine base, crispy tofu, kalamata olives, red bell pepper, avocado, and cucumber.

I’m sure I’ll be grabbing a pear, grapes and/ or some eggplant bacon to take with me in case I get hungry at work.

I also wanted to share with you the vital wheat gluten that I bought, since there were several questions on it.

It’s from Hodgson Mill and it’s a 6.5 ounce small box of Vital Wheat Gluten with Vitamin C. I found it at Super Walmart next to the yeasts and flours for $1.76. I’m sure you could find it at most health food stores, online and maybe even in the organic/ specialty section of your local grocery store, too!

For those of you who haven’t maid Veganomicon’s Chickpea Cutlets, or any other recipe because of the lack of vital wheat gluten, I promise it’s worth it! The reason I made this recipe just now for the first time in the two to three years I’ve had the cookbook is because I have never had vital wheat gluten. It’s worth it though!VWG is cheap and the recipe really is so easy.

On that note, I need to go finish some cleaning and head to work! I already have dinner ready for tonight, just need to clean up my prep. Love that! See you later!