Yeah, you read that correctly.
Lately it seems like many people are looking for a healthier, vegetarian option for all sorts of foods/meals. And in this case, bacon is on the new ‘alternative’ menu.
Lets face it, bacon is amazing. There are the typical substitutions, including seitan, tofu, and tempeh, and then there are the… not so typical substitutions, such as banana peels.
When one thinks of bacon, they probably don’t think of banana peels. If you have ever bitten into a banana peel, you know that they are bitter, rubbery and just gross. But they do pack a lot of nutrients. But interesting enough, according to skillet.lifehacker.com, you can get surprisingly delicious, crispy faux bacon strips in just a few steps!
Here is how to make the faux banana peel bacon strips!
Start by washing the banana peels and carefully scraping off any of the white fruit left on the inside of the peel. Then, heat up some grapeseed oil or vegetable oil and flash-fry the peels. In case you’re unfamiliar with flash-frying, Feast Magazine tells us, “Flash fried food is submerged for about one to five minutes in oil so hot that the outside of the food is immediately seared, keeping the oil from penetrating farther. … When flash-frying, the oil must be heated to an extremely high temperature, 400°F, and then held there during cooking.”
Remove the banana peels from the oil and place them on a sheet pan before tossing them in a mixture of soy sauce, maple syrup, brown sugar, garlic powder, paprika, and liquid smoke. Bake for 5 minutes at 375°, then brush the remaining mixture over the banana peels and bake for another couple of minutes. Get the full recipe here!