Tempeh is often called a meat substitute, as it can be used with most recipes designed for meat – think burritos, pasta dishes, stir fries, casseroles or salads according to Ben Saravia, a plant-based diet and fitness expert.
He recommends the easy vegan tempeh fingers with dipping sauces as an easy introduction to cooking (and tasting!)
tempeh.
Easy vegan “fish fingers”
Ingredients
- 300g Tempeh cut into finger sized potions
- ½ cup white spelt flour
- ¼ teaspoon cracked salt and pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon paprika combined in a bowl
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
How to make
- Preheat Heat oven to 180ºC
- Slightly heat coconut so it is liquid but not hot. Lightly coat the tempeh fingers in the coconut oil, and then roll gently into flour mixture until evenly coated
- Place tempeh fingers evenly onto baking paper covered tray, and place directly into oven. Bake for 20 mins, turning half way through
- When golden brown, remove, allow to cool slightly
Serve with your favourite dipping sauces.
Our next 3 recipes come courtesy of Roo and Adam Guthrie, authors of the
I Feel Good Vegan Magazine.
TLT (Tempeh, lettuce & tomato) sandwich
(serves 4)
Ingredients
Marinade
- 2 medjool dates, pitted
- ¼ cup tamari
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Sandwich
- 250g tempeh, thinly sliced
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced (or 2 medium tomatoes, cut in half)
- 4 large lettuce leaves
- 8 slices of sourdough bread, toasted
- 1 tbsp of oil and egg-free mayonnaise or your favourite sauce salt & pepper to taste
How to make
- Place the marinade ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth
- Pour the marinade over the tempeh until completely covered
- Heat a non-stick frying pan and add the tempeh strips. Turn over when brown on one side. Add any leftover marinade and turn strips over to brown other side. Cook until marinade is absorbed then remove from the heat and set aside
- Heat a clean non-stick frying pan on a high heat. Add the tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until browned and softened
- Place a piece of toasted bread onto a serving plate and top with a few pieces of lettuce, 3 or 4 strips of tempeh, some cooked tomatoes and your favourite sauce or mayonnaise. Top with another slice of toasted bread, cut in half and serve
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Crispy tempeh & grilled tomato salad
(serves 2)
Ingredients
Salad
- 300g tempeh, sliced into thin strips
- 4 tomatoes, cut into quarters
- 1 handful kale, roughly chopped
- 1 handful baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 handful fresh coriander leaves
- 1 tbsp kecap manis
Dressing
- ¼ cup vegan mayonnaise
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp lemon juice
How to make
- Place the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well
- Heat a non-stick frying pan and place the tomato halves face down and cook until brown and juicy. Turn them over, turn off the heat and set aside
- Place the tempeh on baking trays lined with baking paper and bake the tempeh in the oven at 200°C, turning after 10 minutes, and cook until crisp on both sides
- Add the tempeh back into the warm frying pan. Drizzle the 2 tbsp of kecap manis over the baked tempeh. Turn gently until all the tempeh is covered with the kecap manis
- On a chopping board roughly chop 1 handful of kale, 1 handful of spinach and 1 handful of fresh coriander and toss all the chopped leaves on the serving platter
- Place the cooked tomato halves on top of the salad leaves, add the cooked tempeh to the top and drizzle the mayonnaise generously around the dish
Maple syrup marinated tempeh with noodles & Asian greens
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
- 1 cup liquid vegetable stock
- 1 x packet of whole wheat noodles - or noodles of your choices
- 1 x packet fresh tempeh, sliced 2cm thick
Marinade
- 2 oranges, juiced
- 2 cm piece of ginger, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1 x small red chilli, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp tamari/soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
How to make
- Prepare the vegetables and ingredients ready for cooking
- Bring a pot of water to the boil and add the whole wheat noodles, cook until tender then set aside
- Prepare the marinade by placing the chilli, sliced garlic and grated ginger in the bowl, then add the orange juice, 2 tbsp of maple syrup, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tbsp tamari sauce and 1 tbsp mirin and mix well
- Add the sliced tempeh to the marinade and soak for a few minutes while you heat a frying pan on a high heat
- When the pan is hot add the marinated tempeh. Cook until brown on one side, then turn the tempeh and cook to brown on the other side
- Add the remaining marinade and simmer until the marinade totally evaporates and caramelizes the tempeh
- Remove the tempeh from the pan and set aside
- Add 1 cup of vegetable stock to the used pan, stir well to add the tempeh marinade juices to the stock
- Add the bok choy and simmer for a couple of minutes until the greens go dark green, then remove from the pan
- Place the noodles on a serving plate. Place the bok choy on top of the noodles, place the tempeh on top of the bok choy and pour over some broth