30 Jun T.L.A.T. Aka the Vegan ‘Bacon’ Lettuce Avocado & Tomato Sandwich.

One of the most common questions I get is ‘but don’t you miss bacon?’ 

Um… NO! Not when I have tasty tofu around that I can add all kinds of flavours to and make delicious in so many ways.  I’m also one of those people who genuinly dislikes meat. I also really hate the idea of eating something that was sentient & could feel pain, play and think, and I abhore the idea of factory farmed meat in particular. 

But I’m not here to preach. There’s plenty of resources out there about that (visit my friends site No Meat May for loads of details)  I’m here to show you yummy, easy, veggie centric dishes that anyone can make.

And who doesn’t love a sandwich piled high with scrummy ingredients. Easy, fast and delicious. Any one can make a sandwich! 

The key to making the TLAT is the tofu ‘bacon’ . To make it  I buy smoked tofu , in Europe the best brand is Taifun, it’s organic and not genetically modified, and they make a great range of tofu styles. I slice it thinly & either pan fry or bake it with a drizzle of soy sauce &  extra smoked paprika to give an extra salty,  smoky flavour. Cook it until it’s crispy and it makes a super duper sandwich filler, snack or addition to pasta or a stir fry. 

Quality ingredients are also super important. The lettuce I used was from my garden, hence the holes. I like to share my lettuce with the slugs. I would urge you to at least once try growing lettuce. It’s brilliantly easy  to grow in a pot and you can just snip off leaves as you need them. No more discovering horrible nasty slimy bits at the bottom of a shop bought packet. Yergh. 

The tomatoes were fresh from the market, and kept out of the fridge to allow them to keep their delicious tomatoey flavour. Chilling tomatoes destroys their flavour, and you want all the flavour you can get in a sandwich. The juicy sweet tomatoes balance out the salty tofy bacon.

Good avocados are notoriously tricky to find and can be stupidly expensive. Head over to your local market or green grocer. Forget the supermarket avos- they’ve been chilled to death and often won’t soften. My top tip!…  To test if an avocado is ready, squeeze it near the stem. It should give a little in a slightly bouncy way, just like the tip of your nose. 

The bread has to be  unapologetically fluffy and white, I got the one pictured from our local bakery.  I’m not anti carbs by any means and there is a time and place for white bread, and this is it. Normally I like spelt bread the best, but it just wouldn’t work for a TLAT. 

Finally, you need to pimp your sandwich with mayo, and sauces. I like a spicy tomato sauce on mine- and vegan mayo is easy to find in hippy organic shops like Planet Organic and Wholefoods, where incidently I buy my tofu  (I love a good eco-store!) and increasingly in good supermarkets. 

I mean: Check it OUT!  Get in Ma TUMMY!

You really must try making tofu ‘bacon’, it’s SO good, even the most hardened tofu denier, The Gardener, likes it if it’s been cooked until REALLY crispy. 

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T.L.A.T. Tofu 'bacon'. Lettuce. Avocado. Tomato Sandwich.

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

 

Author: Louise-Claire Cayzer

Ingredients

• For the Tofu 'Bacon'
• Smoked Tofu. Sliced thinly
• 1 Tbs soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• Olive Oil
• For the Sandwich
• Bread
• Avocado
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Sauces to taste.

Instructions

1. Thinly slice the tofu, then sprinkle it with soy sauce & smoked paprika
2. Pan fry in the olive oil until crispy.
3. Then: Build your sandwich. Try not to eat all the yummy, crispy tofu before you make the sandwich. It's a hazard, I tell you!
4. Apply to face