Cali-Coco BLT Quinoa Salad

You are too nice. I ran into the same low-light problem when photographing this salad after work. I wanted my standard front view and top view, but it was too blurry and grainy to work. I suppose that is when fun filters hide photographer faults? 😉

In any case, I decided the salad was too sweet not to share. Who knows how long my avocados will keep!

My inspiration came from a meal I shared with Gabby at a hipster restaurant with a few vegan-friendly options. They veganized their Cali-Coco BLT sandwich which had a thick layer of sliced avocado, coconut bacon, tomato, arugula and vegan mayonnaise on a ciabatta bun.  Apparently, avocado + BLT = a California BLT. I also had a side of dal frites (yes a curry and fries poutine!), which was positively too much food.

I was still excited about recreating this at home, though. Unsweetened coconut chips were tricky to locate but my Mom helped locate these wonderfully shaped coconut slices. I am used to smaller coconut chips, so this was great. While I used mine with a salad, I think these bigger pieces would work better in sandwiches, too.

I used my previous recipe for coconut bacon, added half an avocado, a handful of cherry tomatoes, a mound of arugula and then fortified it with cooked quinoa and smoked tofu. Rob thinks the smoked tofu looks like cheese, but I swear it is not. Mash up the avocado with each bite but I will admit I scooped a bit of garlic-infused mayo aioli with each bite as a quasi dressing. Delicious!

Now who wants a dal frites recreation? I am trying to convince Rob to combine our favourite beer-soaked fries with dal bhat!

I am sharing this with this month’s No Croutons Required, Healthy Vegan Fridays, Souper Sundays, Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck and Elizabeth’s No Waste Challenge.

Cali-Coco BLT Quinoa Salad

2 cups baby arugula
1/2-1 cup cooked quinoa
1/3-1/2 package smoked tofu, chopped into triangles
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 avocado, sliced
2-4 tbsp coconut bacon
1 tbsp garlic-infused mayonnaise (I used this one and it was delicious)

1. Place all ingredients on a plate. Eat!

Serves 1.