I am a carnivore. Well, technically an omnivore, I
guess. But I love meat. And I love bacon. When I was younger, I used to tell
mum I could be a vegetarian if it weren’t for bacon. This is not even slightly
true anymore. I was going to start listing all the meats I couldn’t do without
now, but it got too long just thinking about it. And that’s without even adding
seafood into the mix. But I think I’ve someone taken that initial theory on in
a subconscious way. Now when I see vegetarian recipes, I almost always find
myself thinking, ‘that looks so good…but it’d be so much better if it had
bacon’.
This is a common theme in my cooking, so it’ll end
up being a common theme in my blog. Much like the more common Meatless Mondays,
I present “Vegetarian Dishes Improved by Bacon”. I’ve told a few people now
that it’s my dream to write a cookbook with that as the title, and so far have
10 willing buyers. Maybe one day, I’ll get there!
Anyway, I made this summer salad with beautiful
sweet nectarines, salty crispy bacon and crunchy greens for dinner on a hot,
humid night and it went down a treat. Unfortunately, this was before my
decision to make this blog, and therefore take more photos. Food blogging is
going to be a bit of a learning curve for me. I am not hugely comfortable
taking food photos - yet. I love taking photos, I love food…but somehow the
idea of taking photos of the process and finished result is a bit weird and
foreign to me. Despite the fact I adore food porn. That’s pretty much all I am
on pinterest for. I will try and improve at this. I’ve been practicing by
uploading some photos of my dishes to Instagram (follow me!). In the meantime,
and for when I am too lazy to whip the camera out, I will post “Instagrams of
Yumness” such as this one.
Tofu, nectarine and broccoli salad with toasted quinoa. And bacon.
Serves 2
Tofu slices – around 200g I believe??
3 tbps balsamic vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
¼ cup quinoa
One small onion, diced
Two cloves garlic, minced
Zest of one lemon
Finely diced green chilli
3 rashers of bacon, cut into small dice
1 small eggplant,
sliced
Large tomato, finely chopped
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
Juice of one lemon
1 tbsp agave nectar
Big handful Italian parsley
Salt/pepper to taste
Half head broccoli
2 nectarines
Half red capsicum
Add balsamic to slices of tofu, leave to marinate
for at least 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, toast ¼ cup of quinoa until slightly
golden, put in a bowl
Fry the onion,
garlic, chilli and bacon in the olive oil over a medium heat. The bacon
should crisp up around the edges. Add the lemon zest
Add to the quinoa, mix well and set aside to cool
slightly.
Chop tomato finely, add to quinoa bowl. Then add mustard,
lemon juice, agave and parsley. Mix well. Check seasoning and adjust to taste.
Chop broccoli into small florets, cut capsicum to
desired size and dice nectarine,. add to quinoa bowl, mix well and put in
serving bowl
Grill eggplant slices until soft, a few minutes
either side. This can be done in the same pan to save dishes.
Grill tofu until desired level of crispness on the
outer layer.
Dice tofu and eggplant, and arrange on top of salad
Voila! Lovely summer salad!
