Tonight was attempt #2 at what has officially been dubbed in our house as “the brain.”

Or, as it is more commonly known – tempeh.

Look at that crisp factor!

Backing up, this is my second time making tempeh. The first was tempeh buffalo wings, which were actually pretty awesome but the prep time was a little longer than I would normally invest in a weeknight dinner so I wanted to see what else I could do to prepare this strange product.

If you’ve never seen tempeh before, that’s not surprising. The only “mainstream” grocery store I see it at is Trader Joe’s (where this package is from). Usually I would go somewhere like Whole Foods or Mother’s Market to buy it since it’s not exactly run of the mill. It’s a soy product made from fermenting cultures of soy beans and looks and smells along those same science experiment-like lines

You see why I call it the brian? It comes vacuum sealed, too, really emphasizing its bizarre texture and shape.

But if you can get over the appearance, it’s really very good.

I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with it tonight. I’m not really a recipe-in-hand kind of gal. I read about food all the time and am constantly skimming recipes but very rarely will I print one out for a main meal. Baking? Yeah, more likely but that’s just because I’m not too savvy with the baked goods yet. But lunch or dinner? I’m actually more comfortable just winging it. No fussing over measurements and instructions. Just following my instinct.

Since I had tried breading and baking tempeh before, tonight I decided just to go the sauté route, since that’s pretty basic. I chopped the block up into cubes and dropped them into an oiled skillet.

I was surprised that they made absolutely no noise during the cooking process. This is exactly the same way I cook tofu and when I drop those cubes on the skillet, they sizzle up a storm. I guess that’s because tofu is very moist where as tempeh, being vacuum packed and all, is not.

After about five-ish minutes, I flipped some cubes over to see if any progress had been made.

I spy a little browning!

I let those cook for a few more minutes then decided some flavor was going to be needed and threw in a few splashes of soy sauce.

The sauce crusted on to the cubes so well and made them smell more appetizing. For some reason, sautéing tempeh produces a smell that, well, let’s just say it doesn’t really make you want to eat it. Trust me, that smell does not do a good job of indicating taste here.

While that was going, I realized that dinner can’t just be a few cubes of soy sauce tempeh so into the crisper I went to decided what veggies would be joining this mix.

Am I the only one who feels a little daunted right after grocery shopping? I stock up on Sunday and then Monday rolls around and I have so many options, I’m honestly not sure which to chose. I picked up a few veggies this week that aren’t normally in my meals, like cauliflower and potatoes, for variety’s sake but I wasn’t feeling creative enough to tackle those tonight. So I stuck to the basics and sautéed some shallots with carrots and mushrooms (also with a slash of soy sauce), and they ended up being excellent! I’m seriously debating polishing off the leftovers in a bit.

Mmm…love cooked mushrooms! And the soy sauce really was a star here. I’m not a huge soy sauce person but this mixture really shined. Brought the whole plate together.

I also cooked a pot of millet to round out the plate. I like millet but it’s still a little bland to me. I haven’t found the best way to cook it. After I took a few bites, I threw some Frank’s hot sauce on top and that did the trick! I still want to figure out the ideal blend of spices to cook it with but for now, hot sauce is key!

All together.

And, as an added bonus, this meal was easy enough to double so I did just that and now I have lunch for tomorrow!

 

Win win!