I have 3 little words that are going to change the way you think about breakfast forever: CRISPY EGGPLANT BACON!
So sorry I shouted that, but I'm really excited and you should be too because veggie bacon alternatives don't get any more bacon-y delicious than this.
I have professed my love for coconut bacon on so many occasions that I cannot even begin to count them all, but when it comes to satisfying a craving for an epic BLT or just fulfilling the urge to hold a crispy baconesque strip in your hands first thing Saturday morning nothing can compare to this eggplant bacon - NOTHING!
As for the rest of the bowl it's pretty much all of my favorite things thrown together, which is usually how our weekend morning breakfast goes. A little leftover quinoa tossed with a simple massaged kale salad, half of an avocado and a fried egg with homemade dukkah sprinkled on top. I can't think of a tastier way to start the day!
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PrintCrispy Eggplant Bacon Breakfast Bowl
This eggplant bacon makes brilliant BLT's and is great chopped up and sprinkled over cooked greens too!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 17 mins
- Total Time: 37 mins
- Yield: 2-2 ½ dozen pieces of "bacon" 1x
Ingredients
For the crispy eggplant bacon
- ¼ cup water
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Tamari
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3-4 small Japanese eggplant, sliced into thin strips with a mandoline
For each of the breakfast bowls
- 1 cup finely shredded Lacinato kale
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup cooked quinoa
- ½ of an avocado, sliced
- 3-4 strips eggplant bacon
- 1 fried egg
- ½ teaspoondukkah
Instructions
Make the bacon
- Combine the water, salt, maple syrup, vinegar, olive oil, Tamari, paprika, garlic powder, liquid smoke and pepper in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Layer the eggplant slices into a shallow dish and pour the marinade over the top. Let the eggplant marinate for 15-30 minutes, being sure to rotate the eggplant slices at least once so that all of them are submerged in the marinade.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment and place a wire baking rack on top. Lay the marinated eggplant, reserving the marinade, in an even layer on the rack and bake for 12-14 minutes until the eggplant starts to caramelize, remove from the oven and let the eggplant cool on the rack.Once the eggplant has cooled and crisped, about 2 minutes, dip each eggplant bacon slice back into the marinade again and place back onto the baking rack. Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper ( I like Maldon salt for this, but kosher salt works great too!) Bake an additional 2 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the rack before serving.
Build a breakfast bowl
- in a large serving bowl combine the kale, olive oil and lemon juice. Massage with your hands until the kale begins to tenderize. Fold in the cooked quinoa until incorporated then top with avocado slices, strips of bacon, a fried egg and a sprinkle ofdukkah. Serve immediately.
Elizabeth says
Thank you for this recipe! I had one very large eggplant, and needed to double the marinade to get enough to cover. I did not achieve crispness, but they are delicious nonetheless!
★★★★
thismess says
I'm so glad you like the flavor Elizabeth! I event had much luck getting the large globe eggplants to crisp either which is why I used the smaller Japanese egglplant sliced super thin. I'm glad to know that the flavor is still desirable in the larger eggplants even though the crispness isn't there.
Carole from Carole's Chatter says
Hi Meg, this would be a great contribution to Food on Friday: Breakfast over at Carole's Chatter. Please do bring it over. Cheers
Emma {Emma's Little Kitchen} says
Ahhhh this sounds so delicious! I am yet to try eggplant bacon, but you went and put it in a breakfast bowl with Avo... now I have no choice!
Meg says
Mwahahahahaha!!!! You totally have to try it, it is a total breakfast game changer.
Sam ~ it doesn't taste like chicken says
I have tried other eggplant bacon recipes, but unless I dehydrated it, I could never get it to work for me. It always turned out half soggy, and half burnt. Is the wire rack the trick here?
You know me, I love me some veggie bacon!! 🙂
★★★★★
Meg says
The wire rack, a super thin slice and the double dip in the marinade are totally the tricks 🙂 I'm obsessed with baconizing veggies too and while I adore coconut bacon they are so small like bits, I wanted a BLT worthy slab of veggie bacon!