Tossed Tempeh Salad with "Creamy" Italian Dressing

Truth is, I could live on tempeh. That's not quite an exaggeration. I love the darn stuff, and I never would have tried it had I not given up meat. When I first started cooking tempeh I followed the advice of many food bloggers to steam or simmer it to remove its "bitterness." I still occasionally go through the steaming or simmering, but I've grown to love the way it tastes as is. My taste buds truly have changed.

I have also found that tempeh does help me lose weight. When I eat plain old tempeh a few times a week, the scale always stays the same or goes down. This is my experience, and I'm basing it on nothing other than my scale.

It’s also one of the least expensive protein sources out there, at my grocery store, anyway. Here’s why: no one where I live knows what to do with the stuff! It is most always on sale because it’s nearing the expiration date. I just check to see if they have stock ready to get pitched then buy all they have. I usually pick it up for $1.49 a package and throw them in the freezer. Depending on what I’m making, 1 package of tempeh is a minimum of 2 servings (usually it’s 4). That’s .37 cents a serving! (Or free- since I often find coupons on eBay for Lightlife tempeh, and when they're doubled my tempeh score is all free free free) Beat that, chicken wings!

Speaking of chicken brings me to my favorite way to prepare tempeh. When I fry it in oil like this, I swear it tastes like chicken to me. Often I fry up a batch and throw it in the refrigerator; I love it cold when it’s prepared this way.

Tempeh is an acquired taste, though. My husband will not eat it. He has eaten every one of my experiments, but draws the line at these soybean cakes. He says it’s not the taste of it, but rather the texture (tempeh is essentially a brick of compressed soybeans, and it falls apart when you chew it). No matter how I try to tempt him, no matter the marinade or the magic in the preparation, my husband will take a polite bite, grimace, and say “No, thank you. Sorry.” Oh- he is missing out. My gain (or loss- since I made the fantastical claim of effortless weight loss above).

Tonight felt like a salad night. Since I’ve started a 30-day vegan challenge, I was looking for a dressing that suited me. The ready-made dressings in my refrigerator door were all either cheese or dairy-based (even the Italian dressing had Romano cheese in it!). So, happily, I had another chance to eat the cashew cream I made the other day. With a few additions I had a creamy Italian dressing that made me happy happy happy!

Tossed Tempeh Salad with "Creamy" Italian Dressing

1 package tempeh
Salad fixings I used lettuce, artichoke hearts, olives, and tri-colored bell peppers
1 tablespoon cashew cream
½ teaspoon nutritional yeast flakes
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Unsweetened almond milk, for thinning your dressing
Olive oil for frying
Sea salt to taste



1. Cut tempeh cake in half, then take each piece and cut it in half again, so you have 4 thin pieces about the size of a deck of cards.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the tempeh on both sides until it is browned up and beginning to carmelize a bit. Season it with sea salt while it cooks.
3. Drain tempeh on paper towels while you prepare the dressing.
4. In a small bowl, combine the cashew cream with the yeast flakes, garlic and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine. Slowly add almond milk, little bits at a time, and stir mixture until it's thinned to your liking.
5. Add dressing to your salad fixings and toss lightly. Cut the tempeh into bite-sized chunks and add to your salad.

Note: You can easily make this dressing taste like ranch by switching out the Italian seasoning and adding chives and parsley with a tiny bit of lime juice.