Healthy Cooking Fake Out: Bacon Flavor Without the Oink

I admit it, I used to be an "everything's better with bacon" girl. In fact, I was that girl until just a few months ago, when I decided to take my health into my own hands and treat my rheumatoid arthritis without drugs. Bacon is not on my arthritis diet for a number of reasons. First, my anti-inflammatory diet is low in protein and allows no beef or pork. Second, foods containing nitrosamines and other curing agents are off limits. And lastly, my nutritional research has led me to make some personal choices about what I'm eating. While I'm not technically vegan since I eat fish and pastured eggs, I have given up all "meat with feet".

But the foodie in me still craves that rich, meaty, "umami" flavor in my dishes, so I started doing some experimenting to recreate those flavors in another, healthier, form. I found the answer in, believe it or not, shiitake mushrooms! Cooking sliced or diced mushrooms at relatively high heat until browned and crisp, and adding coarse sea salt at the end of cooking produces a fantastic "fake out" bacon. Now, this isn't going to stand in for bacon on your breakfast plate next to your pancakes, but added to pasta, vegetables, quinoa, omelets, etc, you'll never notice the difference. And the bonus is that shiitake mushrooms are super healthy, containing antiviral and anticancer properties.

I eat shiitake nearly every day so I always have them on hand, but you could substitute crimini or baby portobellos although the result will be more meaty than crispy unless you slice very thinly. Skip the white button mushrooms as they are nutritionally inferior. Measurements are not included here because you can make these in whatever quantities you need for your particular dish.

Fake Out "Bacon" Mushrooms

olive oil

Shiitake mushrooms, sliced or diced (see Tips below)

coarse sea salt

1. Heat oil in saute pan over medium-high heat. You want just enough oil to lightly coat your pan (see Tips below). If your oil starts to smoke, turn down the heat a bit.
2. Add the mushrooms and saute until browned and crispy. Don't move the mushrooms around too much or they won't brown properly, just give them a shake or stir every minute or so. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits as they cook, there's lots a flavor in those bits so you want them in your finished dish, not on the saute pan to be washed down the drain.
3. When finished cooking add freshly ground course sea salt and toss together.

TIPS:

• Don't wash your mushrooms or they will absorb the water and become soggy. Take a clean kitchen towel or a piece of paper toweling and brush any visible dirt from the mushrooms.
• The thinner you slice your mushrooms the more crispy they will be when sauteed. If you like your "bacon" a bit meatier then slice your mushrooms thicker.
• Make sure your pan is hot before you add the mushrooms or they will get soft before they brown.
• You don't need much oil here, just enough to lightly coat the pan, we're not frying. 
• Mushrooms are about 80% water and that water comes out as they cook and then is reabsorbed. If you add salt during the cooking process it will be reabsorbed with the water in the later stages of the cooking process. We want our salt on the outside of our mushrooms so wait until the very end to add it.
• I add these mushrooms to just about everything: pastas, veggies, quinoa and rice, salads, bean dishes. They also make a wonderful garnish for soups. I often add toasted walnuts to the same dishes, the flavors complement each other very well.

Last night I added my Fake Out "Bacon" Mushrooms to sauteed broccoli, roasted garlic and toasted walnuts. Yum!