Tempeh Revisited

What to do with your leftover tempeh?? This sandwich is super yummy. The tempeh is crispy, almost the texture of bacon. Actually, I have to say that a crisp tempeh is better than bacon, and is amazing in sandwiches. I promise for the skeptics, this is REALLY good. I ate it even in the dark years when I ate meat. It's not a substitute, but a food. I hate the concept of substitute, it connotes that vegetarians are lacking and always seeking meat. We aren't. Instead, we are looking for meals. Tempeh is an alternative, something that unadventurous eaters ignore, and the rest of us enjoy.


Tempeh Sandwich

*This recipe makes about 6 pita halves, which you can serve for a crowd with chips or salads.


Ingredients:

• Half of a tempeh loaf
• 2 tb of olive oil
• 2 tb of soy sauce
• 3 Pita pockets (or 6 pieces of thicker whole grain bread)
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 2 tb mayo or yogurt
• 2 tb feta
• roasted red pepper
• mixed greens

Directions:

1. Slice the short side of the tempeh loaf very thinly, about 1/2 inch
2. Warm olive oil a saucepan over medium high heat
3. Meanwhile, pour the soy sauce over the tempeh.
4. When the oil shimmers, lay the pieces of tempeh flat in your pan. Let it simmer in the pan, and gently brown each side. The tempeh should be a crispy brown, but not a burned black (about 2 minutes on each side)
5. Half three pita pockets, making six halves.
6. Stir together the garlic and mayo/yogurt, then put on the inside of the pita
7. Add feta, then lettuce, next red pepper, followed by the tempeh. 

I served them the sandwich homemade potato chips here.

Trying out Tempeh

I tend to get nervous about adventurous ingredients, mostly because I hate disappointing myself and AAM. Because we eat dinner together nightly, I have to consider his likes (most of my cooking) and dislikes (tofu, mushrooms, and dried fruits). I enjoy my time with him, and love our meals together. In fact, we are so similar that our friend groups basically merged into one happy family. This means that we spend lots of quality time together, and his time on paternity leave round two is no different. Someone close to me once said that she really enjoyed the quiet nights that her family and her husband were out, and I just couldn't understand it. One of the reasons I married AAM is that he is literally the only person I know who doesn't drive me crazy, I actually enjoy when we are 'stuck' together-- we laugh longer and harder. However, because of Serafina, we take shifts to go out with our friends. Tonight, he went out, so I realized it was an opportune moment to cook with tempeh. He saw me preparing dinner and said "Smells great, I am out!"

I first had tempeh in a sandwich at Busboys and Poets, my favorite place in the DC area to grab a sandwich and write a paper. I go so often I know the staff in the Arlington restaurant. They have a superb tempeh sandwich with veganaise, sprouts, roasted red peppers, and onions. I swap the sprouts for spinach, and it is the perfect sandwich.  For those who might be unfamiliar with it, tempeh is fermented soy and whole grains, which is served in a flat cake form. Originally from Indonesia, it is a wonderful food that is packed with protein and nutrients. It can also be sliced, fried or sauteed and can mimic a bacon texture. I hate saying meat substitute, so I would call it a meal substitute. It doesn't try to mimic meat, but replaces a meal you used to eat with meat. I can't make tempeh as delicious as Busboys, but I can try. Tonight I marinated it in BBQ sauce* for a salad, and I will slice it and saute it tomorrow for a Pita sandwich served with lettuce, mayonaise, cucumbers, and sauted onions and peppers.


*People sometimes give us wonderful foodstuffs like specialized BBQ sauce, sometimes I am not sure what to do with meat marinades, but tempeh and firm tofu are the perfect foods to try these sauces.

BBQ Tempeh Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package of whole grain tempeh
• 1 cup of BBQ sauce
• 1/2 cup of corn
• 1/2 cup of sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup of pinto beans
• 1/4 cup of chopped or shredded cheddar
• 2 tb pumpkin seeds
• 2 cups of mixed greens
• 1 tb honey
• 1 tb dijon mustard
• 1 lemon juiced
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Marinade the tempeh for an hour in your favorite BBQ sauce
2. Set the oven to 375, and bake the tempeh for 20 minutes
3. Meanwhile, mix the corn, carrots, pinto beans, cheddar and pumpkin seeds
4. Pour the corn bean mixture over your salad greens
5. Slice the tempeh and place on top
6. In a small bowl, whisk honey, mustard, lemon juice and salt/pepper. Pour over salad. 

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Lunch. Yum Yum

We are still in the process of emptying our fridge and saving money. This Greek influenced sandwich is not a novel invention, but a really good reminder of how yummy being a vegetarian can be.... No PB&J for me!

Whole Wheat Pita (warmed), Mixed Greens, Cucumbers, Chopped Olives, Hummus, Sprinkled with Feta

Healthy, Filling, and Perfectly Yummy.

Grilled Cheese with a twist

So, this recipe was supposed to be an inventive way to cook grilled cheese, I just didn't know how inventive it was going to be. People raved about the grilled cheese at the party, and asked for the recipe. I was really shocked at the response, as it was the easiest item on the menu. The original recipe uses Kerrygold aged cheddar and has scallion and chive flavored butter. When AAM and I rehashed the menu last night, we realized that he thought the butter went inside the sandwich and he put pam spray on the outside and laid them on the panini press. No wonder it was a huge hit!! This minor miscommunication created the most addictive grilled cheese ever!

The recipe below is designed for a crowd, and meant to be cut into bite-size pieces.

AAM's Grilled Cheese Discovery
Ingredients

• 1 stick of butter softened (do not microwave, but just let it sit out)
• 1/3 cup of chopped scallions
• 1/3 cup of chopped chives
• 2 packages of Kerrygold Aged Cheddar
• 1 loaf of wheat bread.

Directions:

1. Thoroughly mix the butter, chives and scallions together.
2. Slice the cheddar cheese
3. Butter the inside of the bread and layer cheese on top.
4. Either cook them on a panini press (which means you can evenly cook two at a time) or in a pan on the stove.
5. Make the entire batch for a crowd, or save the butter for future enjoyment.
6. We sliced them into fours to make little mini-appetizers.

A little Tuna Spread

Sometimes, we try and stretch the dollar, and push our pantry until it is empty. For this very reason, I always keep a can of tunafish and some mayo on hand. You can always use up your veggie drawer with some tuna spread. The other day, AAM and I were stocking up, and I told him I am always thoroughly confused in the tuna section. A child of the eighties, my concern for dolphin safety interferes with just grabbing a can off the rack. I told him that it was getting harder and harder to figure out if a company does dolphin-safe fishing. He looked at me floored, and readers might be seeing a trend in this interaction, and explained that all tuna is basically dolphin safe now. Honestly, he shouldn't be shocked, I am so stuck in the eighties that I refer to CVS as Peoples, Blockbuster as Erols, and Whole Foods as Fresh Fields. One would think we were rockin' it in 1985 DC by the way I refer to the world.

Speaking of childhood, here is my homemade tuna spread that we grew up on and adore. It goes really nicely on sandwiches or with a plate of crackers, Kerrygold reserved cheddar cheese*, quartered salt and peppered tomatoes, half a boiled egg, and romaine. In my family, that is called "Mom's lunch," for obvious reasons: it is what she eats for lunch everyday. Don't be afraid to add any sort of veggie to your plate, it goes with everything. In fact this tuna spread, goes really well with tomatoes, so for those previously mentioned tomato wrinkling issues, this is a great method of giving your meal some lycopene. Some people might already do this, but for many it is a shock when I make it in front of them. By mixing the typical ingredients put with tuna in a Cuisinart, you get a wonderfully creamy texture. I abhor the gross textured dryness of canned tuna, so this is a great solution. This recipe can make sandwiches for a week, which makes packing lunch easy!

Tuna Spread Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 1 large can of chunk light tuna (or 2 smaller cans)
• 3 celery stalks
• generous serving of ground pepper
• sprinkle of salt
• 2.5 tb of mayo
• 2 slices of tomato
• 2 slices of Kerrygold Reserved Cheddar*
• Lettuce
• Two pieces of Whole Wheat toast

1. Put the celery in a a Cuisinart or blender, and pulse.

2. Next, throw in the tuna, pepper, salt, and mayo on top. 
2. Pulse several times, until the tuna reaches a creamy texture

2. Spread on a sandwich, and serve with tomato, lettuce, cheese on whole wheat. In this picture I used iceberg, which I normally don't buy, but it was left over from a bbq my parents had. A good crunchy romaine is perfect for this sandwich.

*I like the sharpness and richness of Kerrygold, plus it supports the Irish economy. Although I try to buy local when possible, as a dual citizen, I also like to support my family's homeland as well. The Irish economy took a phenomenal dive last year, much worse than here, which is sad considering the Celtic Tiger was turning around history. When we visited last Spring, by the giant open arms every restaurateur and hotelier held towards us, we realized any little effort we make might help. So we try and buy Irish if we see it available.  Kerrygold is at the local market, and supports various dairies around Ireland.