In which I experiment with tempeh

There comes a time in every newbie vegetarian’s life when they must break out of the standard ingredients they once knew and experiment with such things as tofu and tempeh and miso and other things that are not standard in the average American diet. Should you be familiar with non-Americanized Asian food then this process is somewhat easier, however most Chinese places where I grew up featured a lot more sweet-and-sour fried chicken than they did tofu.

I have had rather a lot of fun with this experimentation, actually, and I thought I’d share one such recipe I made up for the folks that aren’t so familiar with some of these ingredients. This is a tempeh version of chicken salad. My simple recipe is in fact vegan and extraordinarily good for you – although that actually wasn’t my intent, and I always end up adding cheese and messing up the super-healthy aspect. My intent was for it to be extremely tasty, which it is. It’s also super simple and non-messy to make.

Ingredients – Tempeh Salad:

• 1 8 oz package tempeh (I like the 3 grain tempeh from Lightlife pictured here). Dice into small cubes.
• 1/2 crisp apple, finely diced
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 3 tbsp Miso Mayo, garlic and dill flavor (or regular mayo)
• 1 tbsp yellow curry powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• salt and pepper

Diced tempeh, above, kind of looks like you’ve just diced a fish filet with the skin on. The fermentation process leaves gray and white marks on the surface, but it’s normal. It’s chewy and grain-ey and this flavor, at least, has a slightly nutty taste.

A note on ingredients:

I use two things here that aren’t standard grocery store fare, but usually can be found in the “health food” section of stores (having a “health” food section always makes me wonder what the other food in the store is supposed to do for you). Tempeh is a fermented soy product involving the whole bean originating in Indonesia. It’s protein rich, which is something vegetarians have to make sure to get enough of. The Miso Mayo I use is one of my many attempts to curtail the fat in my diet – I love mayonnaise, but I do not love what it does to my pants size. This stuff is ridiculously healthy, and made of canola and miso and some other stuff. But I probably still wouldn’t bother with it if it weren’t so very tasty I don’t care whether I have mayonnaise anymore. I swear, it’s good.

Directions:

Place diced tempeh into a nonstick pan with a tablespoon or two of oil (it doesn’t have any oil, so without oil + nonstick it will stick to your pan). Add the spices – curry powder, garlic and onion powder, turmeric, salt and pepper. Mix well. On medium heat, cook the tempeh until it’s getting browned and crispy. Watch to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Add cooked tempeh, diced apple and diced celery to a medium sized bowl. Add the Miso Mayo and mustard. Mix well. The tempeh/apple/celery should be coated. If they are not, add more mayo. It will still be loose, it doesn’t all clump together quite like standard chicken salad.

That’s it. It’s very simple to make. Now I recommend placing a few spoonfuls on some greens, or placing some on a sandwich and melting some swiss cheese on top. Either way, yum!

That’s my lunch tomorrow, btw.