Eggplant "Bacon"

Inspired by these two blogs: post punk kitchen and Raw+Simple to try out making dehydrated eggplant bacon.

Thinly slice 1 japanese eggplant. I cut in half, then slid each half over the mandolin to make these slices.

Mix marinade in a small bowl out of these ingredients:
1 TB olive oil
1 TB tamari or soy sauce
1 TB maple syrup
1 TB apple cider vinegar
scant 3/4 tea liquid smoke (find an all natural brand- ingredients should be hickory smoke and water)
1/2 tea paprika
black pepper
chili powder (I used 1/4 tea chipotle and it was a little too hot! so use lightly)

Layer the eggplant slices with marinade between the layers. Let sit in the marinade for 30 minutes.

Lay on dehydrator trays. Dehydrate until crispy (about 4 hours for me at 120 F)


The slices were so pretty- it's got me thinking about other ways to use eggplant! Like this recipe, where it is rolled around tofu "ricotta" as a pretend-pasta!