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4 from 2 votes
Two stacked halves of a Vegan BLT Sandwich.
Plant-Based BLT Sandwich (PBLT!)
Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 35 mins
Total Time
2 hrs
 

With crispy rice paper bacon, zesty herb aioli, and spicy tomato habanero jam, this vegan BLT is a flavor explosion that might just become your new favorite sandwich!

Course: Sandwich
Cuisine: American
Servings: 1 sandwich
Calories: 623 kcal
Author: Alissa Saenz
Ingredients
For the Tomato Hababero Jam
  • 10 vine-ripened tomatoes, about 4 pounds
  • 2 tablespoons everyday olive oil
  • 1 sweet white onion, diced small (about 1 ½ cups)
  • 6 cloves garlic, sliced wicked thin
  • 6 to 10 habanero chile peppers, sliced or minced
  • 2 cups organic cane sugar
  • 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • Pinch of ground white pepper
For the Herb Aioli
  • 1 cup Plant-Based Mayo (page 264) or store-bought, such as Just Mayo
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely grated with a Microplane zester
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
  • 2 teaspoons minced or snipped fresh chives
  • Pinch of coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Plant Bacon
  • ¼ cup tamari or soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 1 ½ tablespoons Homemade Badass Sriracha (page 276) or other sriracha
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (mesquite preferred), optional
  • ½ tablespoon granulated onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 10 rice paper wrappers
For the Sandwiches
  • Your favorite bread
  • Shave red onion
  • Vine ripened tomato
  • Bibb lettuce
Instructions
To Make the Tomato Habanero Jam
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Set up a bowl of ice water.

  2. Cut an X in the bottom of each tomato, then drop them into the boiling water and blanch until the skins start to peel back, about 30 seconds. Use a spider strainer or slotted spoon to transfer the tomatoes to the ice water. When cool, peel the skins from the tomatoes with your fingertips and a paring knife. Remove the cores and roughly chop the peeled tomatoes. You should have about 8 cups.

  3.  Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the onions and sweat until soft, about 5 minutes. You don’t want to brown the onions, just soften or "sweat" them. Add the garlic and continue sweating for 3 to 4 minutes more. 

  4. Add the chopped tomatoes and everything else and crank the heat to high. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then cut the heat to low. Let everything simmer gently until thickened to a soft jam-like consistency, 1 to 1¼ hours. With all that sugar, the jam will want to burn on the bottom. Don’t let it. Stir the pot often to keep the jam from sticking and burning. The finished consistency should be like thin jam. It will thicken up more when it cools. 

  5.  When the hot jam is nice and thick but still pourable, ladle or pour the jam into a pint-size Mason jar. Screw on the lid and let the jam sit at room temperature until cooled, 1 to 2 hours. The heat in the jar should create a vacuum, sucking down the lid. When cooled, store the jam in the fridge. It will keep for a few weeks.  

To Make the Herb Aioli
  1. Whisk everything together in a small mixing bowl or jar. Use immediately or cover and chill in the fridge for about a week.

To Make the Plant Bacon
  1. In a bowl or jar, whisk or shake together the tamari, maple syrup, sriracha, liquid smoke if using, granulated onion, paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper.

  2.  Preheat the oven to 350ºF, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using 10 rice papers (about 8½-inch diameter), dip each in warm water to soften, then pat dry with clean kitchen towels. Dip a pastry brush in the marinade and paint the paper all over with marinade. Fold the paper in half to make a half-moon shape, then cut it crosswise into strips about 1 inch wide. Place the folded strips on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining rice papers. Bake the strips (in batches if necessary) until crispy, about 20 minutes. 

To Assemble the Sandwich
  1. Choose your favorite bread, like a small ciabatta bread roll sliced in half.

  2.  Lather on Herb Aioli and Tomato Habanero Jam.

  3.  Layer the sandwich with thinly shaved red onion, thin slices of vine-ripened tomato, your favorite Plant Bacon, and then Bibb lettuce. Chomp down and enjoy with a crisp pilsner beer!  

Recipe Notes

Excerpted from the book THE WICKED HEALTHY COOKBOOK by Chad Sarno, Derek Sarno, and David Joachim. Copyright © 2018 by Chad Sarno and Derek Sarno. Reprinted with permission of Grand Central Life & Style. All rights reserved.

Nutrition information is estimated for 1 sandwich including 2 tablespoons of aioli, 2 tablespoons of tomato habanero jam, and ¼ of a batch of rice paper bacon.

Nutrition Facts
Plant-Based BLT Sandwich (PBLT!)
Amount Per Serving (1 sandwich)
Calories 623 Calories from Fat 221
% Daily Value*
Fat 24.6g38%
Saturated Fat 2.1g11%
Sodium 1079mg45%
Potassium 511mg15%
Carbohydrates 85g28%
Fiber 4.8g19%
Sugar 39.2g44%
Protein 10.6g21%
Calcium 30mg3%
Iron 1.8mg10%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.