The coconut bacon adds a nice taste and crunch to this romaine salad with feta, red onion and dried cherries.
Coconut Bacon
3-1/2 cups of big-flake coconut (it’s less than $5 a bag at Foods for Living and you will have some left over)
2 T Liquid Smoke (I used the Hickory variety - it now also comes in Chipotle)
1-1/2 T Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (I like the spray bottle and use it as a gluten-free alternative to soy sauce)
1 T maple syrup (mine was the wonderfully dark and rich Grade B from Vogel’s Sugar Bush Supply in Okemos)
1 T water
Preheat oven to 325. Mix all ingredients together well. I used a no-stick Silpat on a baking sheet and spread the mixture as thinly and evenly as possible. I set the timer for 5 minutes for 4 times (total of 20 minutes). I used a spatula to keep turning the coconut - let it get away from you and it will burn.
After it cools, you can store it in a Ziploc bag for a few days. The flavor seems to intensify so I wouldn’t let it go longer than that.
