Let's be serious for a second. I'm not fooling anyone with this vegetable stack.
You and I both know that stacking vegetables makes them look wayyy better than if I were to just carelessly throw them into a salad. It's impressive, it's fun, it's thought out, it makes you feel super creative. We should all be stacking more vegetables.
It's like when I get my hair blown out, I just feel a little more fancy and little more special. Same hair, same person, just a little something extra. Same tomatoes, same ingredients, but they just look and feel a little more special.
When I was at the market the other day, I saw dozens of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes. I wanted to take a bunch home and love them and make them feel special. I didn't want to mutilate them, I wanted to show off their quirky crevices and imperfect shape. I wanted to bring out their juicy texture and taste. I wanted to throw a party and have them be the main event.
Well, I ended up making this salad and ate it all by myself for lunch. Tomato party for one .... why not, right? But as I was eating it, I daydreamed about how impressive it would be to walk out with these gorgeous stacks of tomatoes as an appetizer at our next bqq. I am going to do that, I think you should too.
If you have not heard of or tried shitake bacon until now, then I am so happy to be the one to share this totally awesome little secret with you. If you have made shitake bacon before, then you already know how shitake mushrooms magically taste just.like.bacon when baked in the oven on low heat for 1 hour. Amazing, right? I think so.
The first time I tried shitake bacon was when Alexandrea Jamieson came to speak at one of our classes at NKCS ... and my mind was blown. Of course, being an ex-bacon lover I was skeptical. Nothing can ever really (naturally) replace or imitate the taste of bacon, right? Wrong.
Now granted, it's not like having a large greasy piece of bacon, think more like bacon bits. But for certain purposes like in a salad, over eggs, or in this BLT lettuce wrap - it does the job quite well.
