Sunbutter Tempeh Surprise or VeganMoFo Day 9

I made a mental note a while back to try Vegan Dad's Peanut Tempeh with Noodles. I don't know why this recipe stuck with me, but it did and I was looking in the cupboard yesterday and noticed a lonely package of rice noodles. I don't make rice noodles often and when I saw these way back huddled in the corner, shyly peaking out I had one of those flashbacks to the picture on Vegan Dad's blog of the Peanut Tempeh with Noodles. I didn't know what it was called or even what was in the dish so I searched through a lot of yummy posts on his blog until I found what I was looking for. I am very busy trying to get ready for an open house/sale for my store this Saturday (1 to 5pm for you local peeps, come on by and do some shopping or just say "hi". For not so locals, I will have a sale for you all once I get my new and improved website up and running.) so I don't have time to cook much. I figured the family would be disappointed last night with my quickie dinner, but I was pleasantly surprised.From now on this dish will be called Sunbutter Tempeh Surprise. I didn't have peanut butter so I used Sunbutter and I didn't have cilantro so it looks a little pale, but it was so good that Parker had three and a half servings and everyone else had at least two. Parker even asked before he went to bed last night if we had some left so he could eat it the next day. I was very surprised because as a rule, the kids prefer tofu over tempeh. With this in mind, I made the tempeh into crumbles more than chunks (think ground beef for those of you who aren't sickened by that thought...I can't believe I even typed that) and use more oil and more tamari than VD's recipe called for (I suppressed the urge to nooch it). I also used about a teaspoon of red curry paste. Parker's only complaint was that the peas should have been mixed in with the noodle dish, but I thought it would be better for have them separate so people could do what they like. The strawberry dessert was going to be a smoothie, but it very thick. I put frozen strawberry, soymilk, almonds, cashews in the blender and was going to smoothie it when the kids protested..."Mom, you forgot the kale!!". I had to put chard in the blender before we had a revolt. I also decided to add a little green tea soy ice cream since it was getting freezer burn in the back of the freezer and I figured it would add a little sweetness. It was lip smacking good. Josie was licking her bowl.

Why would you want to eat tempeh? Even soy-aphobes (which we, obviously, are not) tend to be pro-tempeh for nutrition and health benefits, but many people who enjoy other forms of soy find tempeh less palatable. I think it is just a matter of exposure or texture. Many people like the taste better after it is boiled. There are also lots of different tempeh brands and some of them have grains included and they all taste a different from each other. I do encourage you to give tempeh a chance.

Back to cleaning house, creating displays, and pricing items!