This is the new bacon

Last time I attempted to make raw vegan eggplant bacon, I didn't have a deyhdrator.  Our lowest oven setting is 200 degrees Fahrenheit, which basically ruined it.  It was awful.  Since then I have found recipes that involve baking the eggplant at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time, but we prefer to avoid using our oven and in my opinion the raw vegan method tastes amazing and has a bacon-like texture.  Leave the skin on to give it a nice bite.

One thing I love about this recipe is that it's easy for the family to slice up the eggplant and place it in the marinade while preparing the evening meal, and then place it in the dehydrator during cleanup after the meal.  The next morning, you have "bacon" for breakfast!

Some folks advocate salting the eggplant, pressing out the excess moisture, then placing it in the marinade, but we skipped that step and it turned out fine.

This recipe can be found in several places online.  Next time we'll omit the chili powder to make it more kid-friendly.

Here's how we did it:

Two regular eggplant, sliced thinly with a mandolin
1 tablespoon Spike salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons tamari
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Whisk the marinade ingredients until blended, and place the eggplant in the marinade for two hours.  Dehydrate at a low temperature, (105 degrees Fahrenheit) for twelve hours. 

This recipe filled four dehydrator trays.  While this was drying, we also made some fruit rollups.  This were made with three baskets of strawberries, the juice of one lime, and two pitted dates.  Process until smooth and dehydrate at a low temperature for about twelve hours.

Fruit rollups, of course, are a hit.

We also dehydrated some "cauliflower popcorn" but that recipe is still being perfected.

And now, off to make the kale chips!