Vegan BLT Sandwich w/ Rice Paper Bacon, Heirloom Tomato, and Arugula

Difficulty: 2/5 (5 being hardest)
Spice Level: 1/3 (3 being spiciest)

Prep & Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 sandwiches

The Challenge: BLT Sandwich

Jesus - it looks good huh. 

I love BLTs. I used to eat them with old green box Morningstar Farms bacon, but after becoming a vegan, I have not had many since most bacon replacements are not vegan. So, I wanted to crush that issue. But how to make an easy vegan bacon that wouldn't require too much work. 

Enter rice paper.

I had seen some rice paper recipes, but I had felt like they were pretty hard, easy-to-burn, or just didn't have the flavor. The key to this BLT is really the marinade. I worked a lot on the marinade and then texture. Rice paper works well because it crisps really nicely, and it is also very easy to work with. 

For the marinade, it was a bit of trial and error, but the key is liquid smoke, a bit of maple syrup, smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, some garlic + onion powder, and a few extras. But how do we make this into bacon?

Wet the paper, squish it together, lay on parchment, and slap on some marinade. Bake it on high heat and crisp it. Then eat a ton of it. GUILT FREE BACON YAYYYYYYYY!

To finish this sandwich up, I like it on a pretzel roll, vegan mayo, tomato slices, and rocket lettuce (arugula). Okay, yep that sounds perfect!

Let's get into it!

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Rice Paper Bacon

• 10 sheets of rice paper (spring roll sheets)
• 2 tbl olive oil
• 2 tbl nutritional yeast
• 2 tbl liquid aminos
• 1/2 tbl garlic salt
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1/3 tsp liquid smoke
• 1/2 tbl maple syrup
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• pinch or two of black pepper

The Rest

• 4 pretzel rolls (ciabatta is great too)
• 2 medium heirloom tomatoes, sliced
• 4 large handfuls of arugula
• 6 tbl (or so) of vegan mayo

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Equipment You'll Need:

Cutting Board . Sharp Cutting Knife . Measuring Cups . Measuring Spoons . Medium Baking Sheet . Small Mixing Bowl . Small Bowl of Water . Parchment Paper . Bread Knife

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Before You Cook:

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Place parchment paper on baking sheet

1. To start, using a sharp knife, cut 4-5 strips about 1.5-2 inches out of each piece of rice paper. You need to have roughly 35- 40 strips for 4 sandwiches.

2. Don't worry too much about the width of the bacon pieces. When you are done, you'll have a large stack of varying pieces.

3. To form, find two like pieces of rice paper and stack them together. I like to stack all my pairs on a parchment sheet before wetting.

4. Holding the pair together, dunk it in a bowl of water and as you bring out of the water run your fingers down the sheets to remove excess water.

5. All your pairs should be wet and formed together on your parchment sheet. Transfer to a baking sheet with the parchment paper.

6.  Next, mix together your marinade. These are the ingredients below rice paper on the bacon ingredients.

7. To marinade your rice paper, use a pastry brush to coat with a healthy layer on each rice paper sheet. Once your first sides are done, gently flip the bacon pieces and marinade the other side. If you have marinade leftover, keep adding more to the sheets till its gone.

8. Bake the rice paper at 400F for 8-10 minutes. Check it at8 and if its crispy remove. If not remove for 1-2 more minutes. Watch closely to make sure it doesn't burn!

9. To serve, toast up your buns, put a big helping of arugula on the bun, add couple tomato slices, stack on the bacon, dump on some of the mayo (about 1.5 tbl), and smush down! EAT WNJOY!

Vegan BLT Sandwich w/ Rice Paper Bacon, Heirloom Tomato, and Arugula Jesus - it looks good huh. I love BLTs. I used to eat them with old green box Morningstar Farms bacon, but after becoming a vegan, I have not had many since most bacon replacements are not vegan. So, I wanted to crush that issue. But how to make an easy vegan bacon that wouldn't require too much work. Enter rice paper. I had seen some rice paper recipes, but I had felt like they were pretty hard, easy-to-burn, or just didn't have the flavor. The key to this BLT is really the marinade. I worked a lot on the marinade and then texture. Rice paper works well because it crisps really nicely, and it is also very easy to work with. For the marinade, it was a bit of trial and error, but the key is liquid smoke, a bit of maple syrup, smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, some garlic + onion powder, and a few extras. But how do we make this into bacon? Wet the paper, squish it together, lay on parchment, and slap on some marinade. Bake it on high heat and crisp it. Then eat a ton of it. GUILT FREE BACON YAYYYYYYYY!   Aggregate rating will show here Serves 4 Ingredients: 10 sheets of rice paper, 2 tbl olive oil, 2 tbl nutritional yeast, 2 tbl liquid aminos, 1/2 tbl garlic salt, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp chipotle chili powder, 1/3 tsp liquid smoke, 1/2 tbl maple syrup, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 4 pretzel rolls, 2 medium heirloom tomatoes, sliced, 4 large handfuls of arugula, 6 tbl (or so) of vegan mayo,