Perfect Vegan Bacon

This was the closest thing I've tasted to bacon, although it was a bit crumbly and hard to fry. Recipe from No Meat Athlete.

Perfect Vegan Bacon

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried adzuki beans or other small red beans
1/3 cup hulled wholegrain buckwheat (not buckwheat flour)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon hickory liquid smoke
4 teaspoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon Braggs Liquid Aminos (May be substituted with soy sauce)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon coconut oil
2 teaspoons maple syrup


Method

Rinse the beans and buckwheat,  place in large bowl covered with several inches of cold filtered water; let soak overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Strain the soaked beans and buckwheat and rinse.  Place in the bowl of a food processor.  Add the onion powder, liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, aminos or soy sauce, salt, tomato paste, coconut oil, and maple syrup.  Pulse several times to combine, scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl and continue pulsing until uniform but not as pureed as hummus.
Line a 9×13 casserole dish with parchment paper and coat pan with baking spray.  Place bacon mixture in pan and spread as much as possible with a spatula.  To get the mixture very thin and evenly spread, spray another piece of parchment paper lightly with baking spray and press the paper on top of the mixture and flatten with your hands.  Remove and discard the top piece of parchment paper, then use a spatula to spread over and fill in any bare spots.
Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then slice into 24 strips, about 1 inch by 4 inches (Do this by making one lengthwise cut down the center, and then twelve cuts across the shorter side).  Remove the strips with a small spatula.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat.  Fry the bacon slices for 2-3 minutes, flipping once.  Alternatively, before frying, you can freeze the bacon, then fry when ready to serve (no need to thaw first).