Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Tempeh with cranberries and lemon-strawberry sauce and wakame seaweed as a side (my crazy lunch)

I should have gone to the store yesterday. I open the fridge to find something for lunch and what I see is emptiness and sadness. Definitely, I cannot afford to skip lunch again; so I have to be creative. Pre-packaged comes before frozen in my list of priority for desperate meals. Ans here it is! A package of tempeh not even open and bought a couple of wees before. That's it. 

Now it's all about finding something to mix the tempeh with, because I tried multiple times to eat it straight and it is not the most pleasant experience. Also, not recommended when you are eating because you know you have to, not necessarily because you really want to. Typically I like it sauté with oil, lemon (lots) and soy sauce. But lemons do not grow spontaneously in my kitchen so I have to buy it and, as I mentioned earlier, it's been a while since the last time I had a trip to the grocery store. 

One of the recipes I used to make when I was obsessed with tempeh was called something like "tempeh all'orientale" (oriental style tempeh). It called for pine nuts and raisin and yes, I have pine nuts! But of course no raisin and no lemon. At this point it becomes a challenge, whatever I find in the fridge or the shelfs is going to be good enough. And it was! Here's what I ended up doing:


Ingredients for one:
  • Tempeh (1 serving)
  • 3 tbsp of strawberry lemonade
  • 1 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 tbsp of pine nuts
  • 2 tbsp of dried cranberries
  • 1 tbsp of soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp of rice vinegar (optional)

Preparation:
  • Ina  small saucepan, heat the oil and add the tempeh and cook on medium-low until golden brown. Add pine nuts and cranberries and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add the strawberry lemonade, soy sauce and cook until the liquid is reduced a little. 
I served the craziness with wakame seaweed and a bunch of steamed broccoli. The former turned out to match pretty well while the latter I would not recommend... :-)




Linking to MMMmonday at Acting Balanced



VegetarianFodieFridaysHey What's For DinnerMyMeatlessMondays

4 comments:

April@The 21st Century Housewife said...

What interesting flavours you have used! Isn't it great how some of the best meals can come from combinations of just what we have on hand!!

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

The best meals come from what is left in the fridge. The flavors, in this, are certainly appealing.

Melodie said...

That's pretty wild! I enjoy experimenting with flavours too though. Glad this turned out so well for you. Thanks for sharing at Vegetarian Foodie Fridays!

Laura said...

yeah!!I love not going to the store :)

Thanks for linking up to Just Another Meatless Monday, see you next week :)