Crazy for Bacon!

Bacon is one of the most versatile & tasty foods around. You can use it as an ingredient for other dishes, have it as a side with your breakfast, zest up your sandwich with it, fry it up and use the drippings to cook other foods,....the list goes on. When I started eating a low sodium diet, I thought that bacon was just another fav food that was out the door, since I couldn't find any with less than 200+ mg of sodium per slice.

Then I found Niman Ranch Applewood Smoked Uncured Bacon at Trader Joe's. It's not super low in sodium, at 135 mg per slice, but better than most I've seen. Also, there are no nitrates or nitrites added, no antibiotics or added hormones, all vegetarian feeds and it says that their animals are humanely raised on environmentally sustainable family farms.

Because it still has 135 mg of sodium, I only use one slice at a time, usually as an ingredient to flavor other foods. One of my favorite & easiest recipes to make is bacon fried rice. Just cut bacon into small pieces and fry in a pan with a little grape seed oil & diced onions. Once bacon is browned & onions are translucent, then add refrigerated day-old rice and fry up together. Add black & cayenne pepper and no sodium salt substitute for added kick. One slice of bacon will provide enough flavor for about 2 cups worth of uncooked rice.