blt

1. theory
2. equipments
3. ingredients
4. recipe

theory

Faith means little in the absence of Doubt. It is good to be wary of meat substitutes. If you want to eat meat, eat meat; if vegetables, vegetables. Always ask of an ingredient, "What are you?" If the answer is not immediately apparent, do not extend to it your precious faith.

As with tofu, I believe we can with reasonable confidence assert that tempeh is a real food. Made of cultured soybeans, and other real ingredients. Generally we should also be wary of ingredients constituted of other ingredients, but in the case of tempeh the rabbit hole does not run too deep. You can peer in over the edge and pretty well see the bottom, perhaps even touch it with an easily extended arm.

The layering of the classic BLT matters a very great deal. It is easy to spot those who do not truly believe in the sanctity of the sandwich as a noble project of human ingenuity, because they approach its construction with little method and rigor. The same maintains for the vegetable BLT.

This version also features red onion and pickles. And the dijon may not be omitted. (Though possibly substituted with yellow.)

equipments

• oven
• square of aluminum foil
• skillet
• fork
• kitchen knife
• cutting block
• spreading knife

ingredients

• slices of bread, sourdough or [marble] rye
• dijon mustard
• leaves of lettuce, bibb or iceberg
• red onion
• large tomato, red but not violently red, plump but not firm; ideally plucked fresh from the garden
• tempeh bacon
• pickles, so called "bread and butter" chips

recipe

1. arrange the foil so that its less shiny side is facing up
2. take two adjacent slices of bread and unfold them on the foil like you would open a book
3. open the door of the oven, lift up the foil with the slices of bread on it, and place it on a rack in the oven, then close the oven door
4. turn on the oven and set its temperature to 400° F
   • - when the oven temperature has reached 400° F, turn it off; open the door of the oven, flip over each slice of bread onto its other side, then close the oven door, and proceed with what you were doing
5. fry the tempeh in a skillet; with a fork, periodically flip the slices over onto their other side
6. gently rinse with cold water the leaves of lettuce, and pat dry with a towel
7. chop off the ends of the onion, slice it in half along the coronal plane, peel it, then place one half cut-side down and slice it horizontally, very thin
8. gently remove the stem from the tomato and rinse and scrub the tomato with cold water, then carve out the root of the stem by cutting in a conical fashion; slice off what remains of the top of the tomato so that the top of what is then left of it is flush with the base of the previously carved-out cone; then take several more horizontal slices, each about one eighth of an inch thick
9. when the slices of bread bread are finished toasting, remove them from the oven, and spread each of the adjoining faces with a thin but generous scrim of dijon
10. place on top of one slice of mustarded bread the leaves of lettuce, on top of the leaves the thinly sliced red onion, on top of the onion the slices of tomato, on top of the tomato the tempeh slices, and on top of the tempeh, a number of "bread and butter" chips
11. turn over the remaining slice of bread so that its mustarded side faces down, and place it on top of the vegetables heaped on top of the first slice of bread
12. standing on the tips of your toes, place your hands on top of the sandwich and press down firmly, once
13. slice the sandwich in halves, on a slight diagonal

pairs well with potato chips or onion rings