We’ve used these bacon bits as a yummy pizza toping and in two kinds of pasta sauce – the other was just a tomato sauce with chick peas, and here’s the carbonara sauce we whipped up the other night.

Here’s what I used:

• 2 dl soy flakes
• 2 and 1/2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons brown syrup
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
• canola oil for frying

I first mixed the soy sauce, vinegar, syrup and liquid smoke together. Then I placed the soy flakes and the seasoning in a bowl and stirred until the flakes had absorbed all the liquid.

Now I heated our cast iron skillet with enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan, and then fried the soy bits until nice and brown all over, with a few blackened spots here and there. For crispy results, I’ve used more oil, and for a chewier and less greasy result just a thin layer is enough.

I drained the bacon on kitchen towels and then it was ready to be used – in pasta, on sandwiches, as a pizza topping, or in salads. Yum.

Simple Carbonara:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 dl soy cream (or other vegan option – rice, almond, oat)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• plenty of black pepper
• 1 and 1/2 dl soy bacon bits
• chives and nutritional yeast

I heated up the oil and fried the onions until browned. Then I added the garlic, fried a minute more, and added the soy cream and heated it up. Then I removed the pan from heat, and stirred in the salt, plenty of black pepper, and the lemon juice. This makes enough sauce for a dry-ish pasta dish for 2 persons – add more cream if you like it saucier.

When the spaghetti was cooked, I stirred most of the soy bacon bits in the sauce, and then mixed the sauce with the pasta. We sprinkled our portions with nutritional yeast, chives, and more soy bacon bits.

This is nice and crunchy and not too sweet, with a hint of cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and cashew nut butter for extra flavor. We usually don’t eat sweet things for breakfast and rarely ever buy granola, but I am now very much hooked to this homemade version – it’s so delicious as a snack with plain soy yoghurt or vegan milk. And obviously there’s plenty of room for creativity when it comes to granola, with all the nuts and seeds and dried fruits and extracts just waiting to be added for good measure.

Here’s what I used:

• 6 dl rolled oats
• 2 dl soy flakes (by Soyappétit), slightly crushed
• 2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/2 dl muscovado (whole cane) sugar
• 5 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 tablespoon cashew nut butter
• 1 tablespoon soy milk

First I heated the oil, sugar, nut butter, and soy milk on medium heat until the sugar had melted. I removed the pot from heat and combined the dry ingredients – oats through ginger – in a bowl. Then I poured the sugar mixture and vanilla extract in the dry stuff, stirred with a fork until thoroughly combined (this takes some time), and spread the granola on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

I baked my granola in 150 degrees Celsius, first 12 minutes, then tossed it, and baked for another 12 minutes, removed from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet. This all depends on the oven I guess, so the granola might need another 5 to 10 minutes of baking time – it should get golden brown (the bits that aren’t cocoa brown) and crunchy.

This is how our soy flakes look like: they’re very light and airy.