Thursday, July 14, 2011

Western Bacon Cheeseburger: Vegan Style

Sigh. 
Western Bacon Cheeseburgers from Carl's Jr.
I used to love these things.
I distinctly remember the last time I ate one.
I felt like I had eaten a rotten rock.
I didn't even know rocks could rot. 
But there it was, a lump in my stomach.
What was worse than my pain was the realization 
that I'd never eat another Bacon Cheeseburger from Carl's again.
It was a sad day.
And since then, I drive by Carl's Jr. with my head down,
a little sorrow in my heart. 

But then we got a Carl's Jr. coupon in our mailbox.
Enough was enough!
I was going to make this burger and fulfill my crazy craving!
I tore out the coupon and stuck it on my counter.

Oh burger, you never look like the picture. 


Ew. Looking at that picture makes me wonder
 how I ever ate that.
Right now the only thing that is appealing 
to me are the sesame seeds. 



Here is my version vegan style:

Arisa's Mean Vegan 
Western Bacon Cheeseburger

Serves 4
You will need:

- 4 Hamburger buns
- 4 slices tempeh bacon
- onion rings (recipe follows)
- BBQ sauce (the one we had was a little spicy
and added a great kick to the burger, Stubbs Original BBQ Sauce)

First off, you got to have good onion rings. 
This burger is all about the onion rings.
I've never made onion rings before
but I created this recipe and we love it!
So thankful to Daniel who did the onion ring cooking.
We had a lot left over and we munched on them with our burgers. 
My mom thought they needed more salt and cayenne pepper
but Daniel thought they were just fine.
If your heart tells you to add more do it!
These were great cause they didn't 
make us feel stuffed like other onion rings
and they didn't bring us down.

Oh onion rings, you are my
new favorite guilty pleasure...

Vegan Beer Battered Onion Rings:

- 12 oz. vegan beer (We used Dos Equis Lager)
- 1 cup panko
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- canola oil
- 2 onions, sliced

Mix ingredients. Submerge a couple onion slices at a time.
Make sure they are nicely coated with the batter
then place in pan over medium high heat 
with enough oil to cover at least halfway. 
Cook on both sides till golden brown. 
About five minutes each side.

They were so good!
Best onion rings ever!



Meanwhile, fry the tempeh bacon
About three minutes on each side
with very little oil. 


Once tempeh bacon is done, 
remove from heat and warm up your buns.
We used whole wheat 
and it didn't ruin the flavor of the burger at all.


Keep cooking those onion rings!


Cook Amy's burgers as directed by package. 
Before removing from pan,
throw on a couple tablespoons of daiya cheese.
Flip the burger over so that the cheese is face down on the pan.
Listen to it sizzle for two seconds (ah...the sound of cheese melting)
and remove from pan. 



Be liberal with the BBQ sauce.
Smear over 1 tablespoon on both halves of the bun.
Layer on the burger,
two strips bacon,
about three onion rings,
close the burger
and eat up!


So good! 
My husband and I were thrilled 
because it really does taste like the real deal.
Daniel said they are better though 
because they are bigger and don't make us lazy. 
Right on burger!
I just had to share this one.
We couldn't have piled it any higher.
It's just plain good ol' food. 



Thank you to all our old and new Facebook and blog followers!
We are happy to be sharing our vegan adventures with you all!

3 comments:

Heather said...

Wow, this looks like the real deal! Greasy yumminess, but still better for you than the Carl's Jr heart attack. :P I'm adding it to my recipes to try out, maybe this weekend! I'll let you know how it turns out. :)

Anonymous said...

This looks yummy, i've so been craving some carl's jr. lately and even though i'm not big on onion rings, i wouldn't mind trying this recipe to satisfy my craving

Arisa and Daniel said...

@ Heather- I'd love to hear how it turns out!

@ I am who I am- I'm not a huge fan of onion rings either mostly because they make me feel gross. I hope this helps her craving! Are you going vegan?

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