Tempeh Ideas

I love cooking with tempeh. I'll give three suggestions as to how I usually use tempeh. Oh, and the flavor makes a big difference - I hate the Garden Vegetable one, and love the Quinoa one!

1. For a quick meal, make some pasta (I like the dried kind - eggless of course). While the pasta is cooking, cut up tempeh in fairly thin (quarter inch?) slices. As with tofu, tempeh tastes and acts different depending on how it is cut (i.e., when it is fried). Fry the slices, but be careful not to burn the tempeh. Both sides should be golden brown. When the pasta is done, drain the water, add some olive oil and chopped up black olives, and serve with tempeh slices on the side. Or cut up the tempeh slices into little squares and mix in with the olives and pasta. You can also fry green pepper and shitake mushrooms and include them.
2. If you make stir-fries, you can add a delicious twist with tempeh. Cut the tempeh in thick pieces and add a bit after you would the tofu. Yum!
3. I don't have the recipe online, but my favorite dish at a vegan Thanksgiving dinner I used to go to annually in Rhode Island was a tempeh loaf. It essentially substituted for dead turkeys. I think you steam a slab of tempeh, mix it in with tomato sauce, herbs (celery seed, parsley, black pepper, bit of salt), peanut butter, and oats. It gets quite thick! Then it is baked for like 45 minutes. Oh, there are bread crumbs there too. It turns out tasting good but is quite dry - you need cranberry sauce on the side.

Enjoy experimenting with tempeh! It's also supposed to be quite good for you.

Dilip