Recently, I was on the hunt for tempeh because Sam was home and wanted “meatloaf.” Well, that meal never happened because this hunt was unsuccessful! I had never had a hard time before, usually finding it in the cooler case of the local Big Box grocery store next to the tofu. But for some reason, it was not to be found there or in the smaller “gourmet” grocers. I even struck out at the Natural Food market! Of course, this only made me crave a tempeh dish even more and a couple of weeks later, when it showed up in the cooler case again, I bought two packages and set out to make something special.
While this dish tastes like a little flavor festival in your mouth, it is actually quite simple. It has a great texture that can satisfy the reluctant vegetarian.
Tempeh with Curried Cashew Sauce
It is a bit unusual for me to follow a recipe, but this one is worth following. You’ll have to follow the link to get the recipe because I respect the originator’s work! (quick aside: we don’t intend to plagiarize other cooks here so if you ever think we should have linked or given credit, please let us know!) So here, I present to you my home photos and some hints.
This is how it starts. Cubed tempeh in the runny sauce. Get it bubbling because you want it to caramelize and the sauce to reduce.
So you end up with something that looks like this (sorry, can’t figure out why it’s upside-down):
At the same time, you are working on the sauce. This is what it looks like before adding the liquid and blending it:
And the finished product:
We devour this quickly, which is why you don’t get a plated picture! The sauce reminds me of the Vegan Mac and Cheese, so keep the recipe handy and use it for other dishes too!