TLAT Sandwich

I had one of the most unbeliveably tasty sandwiches last night and I owe it all to Heidi's lovely blog entry. I've been following her blog for quite some time now but last night was the first time I tried one of her recipes...this all started because I bought some tempeh at the market and didn't know what to do with it.

I've eaten tempeh in some Malay and Indonesian dishes but have never actually worked with it myself. I turned to Heidi's blog for inspiration and when I saw her recipe for a TLAT( Tempeh Lettuce Avocado Tomato) sandwich... well truthfully...when I saw the photo of her sandwich which looked incredible I knew I had to give it a try...I didn't have the original recipe on hand but I knew what needed to be done in general so my recipe might differ a bit from the one on her site.

Tempeh is a great meat substitute and it tastes wonderful...it is highly nutritious and fat free...it is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean gives it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber and vitamins compared to tofu.

Tempeh also takes on marinades very well...I'm sure I can play around with different marinades to make all sorts of sandwiches with it! R is already asking if I can make a bulgogi marinade to make tempeh bulgogi burgers...delish!

TLT Sandwich

Tempeh cut into thin slices

Tempeh Marinade:

1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce

2 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar

1 tablespoon Brown Sugar

Cherry Tomatoes

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Brown Sugar

pinch of Salt

Shredded Lettuce

Avocado

Salt

Pepper

1. Mix together the soy, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar in a bowl

2. Line Tempeh slices at the bottom of a large tupperware and pour the marinade over. Let this sit for as little as 30minutes or leave it overnight in the fridge for a stronger flavour

3. Slice the cherry tomatoes and toss them with the oil, brown sugar and salt. Put them on a baking sheet and into the oven at 150 for 45minutes or until they begin to shrivel

4. Mash a whole avocado and add a pinch of salt and pepper to it for taste

5. Toast some good bread for your sandwich (I used a Multigrain and Nut bread)

6. Take the tempeh out of the fridge and heat a pan on medium. Add the tempeh slices and cook till it's brown(around 3mins per side). Leave it on longer if you want a crispier tempeh

7. Assemble your sandwich: spread the mashed avocado on one slice of bread. Add some shredded lettuce on top and then top that with the roasted tomatoes. Add a slice of tempeh top with another slice of bread that has some avocado slathered on and enjoy!

**I didn't take the photo above...I stole it from cyberspace. By the time I had my sandwich it was too dark and so I couldn't take pretty photos of it.