Tempeh Tuesday #4 - Vegetarian Tempeh Cups

It's now Thursday, but here's my delayed tempeh dish for the week! This is an omni recipe I modified in a pinch for Tempeh Tuesday. The original recipe called for ground sausage, cheese and ranch dressing. I used Isa's wonderful tempeh sausage crumbles, vegan cheese slices and Annie's Naturals Papaya Poppy Seed Dressing (cuz it's my all-time fav dressing!). Also added some chopped tomatoes... because I love tomatoes!

My biggest boo-boo is that I didn't read the ingredient label for the Nasoya won ton wrappers; they're not vegan since they contain eggs. I've been trying to eat more vegan lately, so I was disappointed that I didn't read the label closely in the store. Can won ton wrappers be vegan? Can anyone share a vegan brand or recipe for the wrappers?

Overall, I thought this was a neat idea for vegetarian finger food. Really, almost anything could be stuffed in the won ton wrappers... lots of possibilities for fillings! If I ever made these again, I'd skip the vegan cheese; it didn't melt and the whole recipe would've tasted more "fresh" without it.

Vegetarian Tempeh Cups - Makes 12 "cups"

Isa's Tempeh Sausage Crumbles
1 pkg. won ton wrappers
2 slices vegan cheese, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 c. salad dressing (I used Annie's Naturals Papaya Poppy Seed)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the tempeh recipe while oven is preheating. Insert the won ton wrappers into the individual cavities of a muffin tin. Bake the won ton wrappers in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Allow wrappers to cool when done. In the meantime, continue cooking the tempeh crumbles. When the tempeh is done, combine tempeh, cheese, tomato and dressing. Spoon into cooled won ton wrappers and bake for 10-15 minutes.

I personally didn't use all of the tempeh crumbles for the dozen cups... but it would depend on how much you fill up the cups. I didn't want to overload them and have stuff falling out all over when I took a bite. ;)

Nana, nana, bobana, banana, fana, fofana...

I'm alive! I just haven't posted. *hangs head in shame* It's been busy with holiday shopping and preparation, wedding planning and family gatherings (Thanksgiving, a Baptism, etc). Haven't been eating anything too exciting lately, and have been eating out far more than I'd like.

I did manage to bake some vegan banana bread this past weekend, because, every time I opened the door to my freezer, it seemed I had to take cover from the ever-growing number of frozen bananas that are stuffed in there, shooting out at me every chance they get, as if begging to be used in a delicious bakery item.

I read somewhere that overly ripe bananas could be throw in the freezer and used for baking. It was an 'Aha' moment for me, because often I buy too many bananas and have always felt guilty about that one lonely banana I never got around to eating. Poor soul, left there on the counter till it turned a deep shade of brown. I rejoiced in my new-found knowledge and happily tossed these guys in the freezer, comforted by the fact that I would use them in the future. What I didn't plan on is how easy it is to just toss a banana in the freezer... and amass a nice little army of bananas that would revolt every chance they got.

"Bombs away!" I could hear them shout as Col. Banana took a sliding leap and jumped out of my freezer (without a parachute, I might add!) landing at my feet. Frustrated, I'd pick up Mr. Banana and shove him back in the freezer. Gotta use these SOON, I'd mutter to myself.

And so I finally did this past weekend. I used this recipe from vegweb.com, making modifications and cooking two different batches. For the first, I took the advice of one of the comments and used 1 c. whole wheat flour and 1/2 c. wheat germ. I also used the flax as the egg substitute. Turned out delicious. For the second batch, I tried subbing some of the butter substitute with applesauce (1/4 c. butter sub and 1/4 c. applesauce). I also used 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour and no wheat germ, just to see what would happen. I haven't tasted the second batch yet, but it looks like the first. I may shave off an edge to taste, but I'd like to save this loaf and freeze it so my fiance can give it a try when he returns from being out of town. I snacked on and off all weekend on the other loaf, and well, there isn't much left. :-/

Baking aside, I feel so behind on blogging... not only in writing, but also reading all your great blogs and stories. My bloglines reader has been a lovely shade of bold lately, indicating all the blogs I haven't had time to browse. :( I do plan to catch up soon and look forward to reading about everyone's latest adventures!!!