It’s been a hot and busy week! I actually made these Indonesian-inspired tempeh skewers on Monday, but this is the first time I’ve had the time or the mental strength to sit down and write about it what with our … Continue reading
Well, today I test-drove the Smoky Maple style tempeh that I got this past weekend, and made the first dish in the Tempeh Challenge. With it, I made a TLT – Tempeh Lettuce and Tomato. I’m happy to say, I … Continue reading
Okay, so I recently trashed tempeh. Then, I went grocery shopping yesterday and went and picked up some more. I not only got more tempeh, I also went and got ‘bacon-style’ tempeh.
My tempeh purchase for the week …
If you’ve read my ‘about’ page, you know that this fake meat business just irks me. My biggest issue is the irony of it all. The thing is — we’re vegetarian. If we’re supposed to be at peace with our choice, we wouldn’t or shouldn’t be constantly trying to recreate the foods that we have decided to leave behind.
That being said, dammit, I miss bacon. I also miss things like having an awesome BLT. So, if someone can make the hated tempeh taste like bacon and yet not BE bacon, why wouldn’t I eat it?
As I unpacked my groceries and paused to look at my pack of bacon tempeh and plain tempeh, I wondered what I’m doing wrong to make this stuff taste so awful. Obviously, someone out there likes this stuff. Obviously, there is some redeeming quality to this.
I usually turn my nose up at these kinds of things. I am however missing bacon in a big way, and am also trying to find some redeeming qualities of tempeh.
So, I decided to undertake the Tempeh Challenge. I’ve started looking up some information here and there on the tricks of the trade when it comes to this stuff. The way I’ve been preparing it hasn’t worked. Even recipes from well-established bloggers using tempeh haven’t wowed me. So, I’m branching out. Thus far, I’ve found a couple of suggestions that seem to make sense, and they draw upon some of the roots and traditions of this soy product. Hopefully, I’ll find in my experiments a few uses for this food that I’ve found distasteful.
Sometime this week, I’ll post about my TLT (tempeh-lettuce-and-tomato) adventure. I’ll start small.
Let’s see where this challenge will take me.
The Reluctant Vegetarian 