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.

Burgers From Around the World Series : Mediterranean

As I mentioned in my burger loving post I'll be starting a monthly series where I will create burgers inspired by many different countries/regions...this past Sunday I decided to start it all off with a Mediterranean Burger. I wanted to incorporate flavours that are traditionally Mediterranean with a very typical style burger...this used ingredients such as kalamata olives, roasted garlic, sun dried tomatoes, caramelised eggplant and feta cheese. This is a made up recipe, but let me tell you it was one of the juiciest burgers I have ever had. Its almost as if the ingredients melt within the meat and once you take a bite it gushes into your mouth creating an extremely flavorful experience!


So this is what I ended up doing:


Burger Patty


- Ground Beef (Amount depends on how many burgers you are preparing)

- 4 Garlic Cloves (Cut off the ends, leave the skin on, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil. Pop it in the oven for 15mins to roast)

- Handful of Kalamata Olives (Chopped finely)

- 2 pieces of Sun dried Tomatoes (Chopped finely)

- Pepper to taste


I prefer to use my hands for this. Mix the ground beef in with the chopped olives and sun dried tomatoes. Take the garlic out of the oven and let it cool. Squeeze them out of their skin and mash the garlic. Add this to the patty mixture and add pepper to taste. When you form the meat patties press your thumb in the middle of the patty to leave an indentation. This actually helps the patty to keep it's form as it cooks.


Now I wanted to make this an extra special burger so instead of the usual lettuce and tomato to accompany the burger I added a little something else:


- Grilled Eggplant Slices (Drizzle olive oil on a grill pan, place slices of eggplant and grill till they turn brown and fragrant)

- A slice of Feta Cheese

- A piece of Sun dried Tomato


I assembled all of this with half a pita bread and a thin coating of tomato pesto and a side of homemade wedges...Yummy! This made for an incredible burger and if you have the chance try out the beef patty recipe as the ingredients work together perfectly. Next time I might even add a few chopped capers...