Bacon, morning, noon & night

If you know me at all, you know I love bacon. But, it's got to be the good kind: all-natural, nitrate free. And it's got to be pork, otherwise it's really not bacon to me.

So many of the meals prepared in our kitchen feature this salivatory all-star. We add bacon to my homemade pizza, stews, my husband's Jaeger schnitzel sauce, mushroom soup, etc. I've found homemade bacon bits atop a salad give it a lovely, salty crunch.
  

BLT salad

 We've even embedded bacon into our whole grain pancakes because really, why not?

 

bacon pancakes

 

If we're on the heels of some newfound bacon trend, so be it.

Recently we hosted a bacon-themed party. I contemplated many ideas: bacon sushi, maple bacon, bacon and goat cheese empanadas....

In the midst of already making a three-layer Kahlua ganache cake for a special birthday guest and several bacon and carmelized onion pizzas, I began to think I might be taking on a little too much.

I did want to try something new though. So, I played around with the idea of the ubiquitous scallops wrapped in bacon. Instead of using scallops, I roasted tofu with smoky BBQ sauce, wrapped them in bacon and broiled them - delicious, and so much more affordable.

One well-loved guest brought roasted asparagus wrapped with pancetta - the dish never made it from the kitchen island to the table.

Several years ago through freecycle.org, I scored 18 editions of "Vegetarian Times" secondhand. An avid and curious home cook, I was excited to peruse new recipes.

Curling up in bed that night, I began eagerly reading through recipes, talking out ideas with my husband. He still remembers me pointing to the glossy pages, drifting off to sleep and telling him, "We should try this - but we definitely need to add bacon."