What to do with tempeh?

I was asked tonight whether or not tempeh was 1.) a good source of protein, and 2.) what to do with it? Tempeh is most often used when making meat substitutes, from bacon to burgers. It is a great source of protein, and if cooked correctly, can be extremely delicious. Although I have yet to experiment with my own recipes for meat substitutes, here is one that I made for dinner tonight. These are amazing, and can be added to spaghetti sauce, served with bar-b-q sauce as an appetizer, or served on a sandwich with fries. Good luck, and if you come up with a tempeh recipe you think is worth sharing, please do!

“My Balls” from The Sexy Vegan Cookbook

4 ounces tempeh

1/2 cup raw walnuts

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp minced fresh Italian parsley

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried thyme

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1/4 cup diced yellow onion

1/2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce.

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Steam tempeh for 25 minutes and let it cool.
• In a food processor, combine the walnuts, nutritional yeast, parsley, oregano, basil, thyme, garlic, onion, Worcestershire, tomato paste, tamari, water, and oil, and process until you have a semi-moist meal
• In a bowl, crumble the steamed tempeh with your hands until there are no big chunks left. Then add the mixture from the food processor to the bowl, plus a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper, and mash it all together with your hands. Form balls about the size of ping pong balls.
• Place on greased baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes (you may want to flip them half way through the baking!)