Thursday, July 30, 2009

Chinese UnChicken Salad



It looks like we're going to have a break in our Pacific Northwest heat wave today. Instead of reaching 106°, today's forecast is for a high temperature of just 95°. I'm not complaining. We don't have humidity here. At least not at the same time we have heat. But I still think it's too hot to cook, so I'll be making some kind of salad again tonight. Last night we enjoyed one of my husband's favorite dishes, a tasty Asian-inspired unchicken salad sandwich. Made with lightly fried tempeh, it's filling and nutritious. Of course, I used coconut oil to fry the tempeh, but if you don't want a coconutty overtone, you can use olive oil instead.

Ingredients:

1 Granny Smith apple, chopped into small pieces
3 celery stalks, chopped into small pieces
5 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup sliced raw almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 12-oz package tempeh, cut into small cubes
1 Tbs coconut oil
2 Tbs Vegenaise

1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbs light soy sauce, tamari, or nama shoyu
1 Tbs ground black pepper
1 Tbs toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp five-spice

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet and fry tempeh just until edges are golden-brown. Remove from heat, and let cool while preparing the other ingredients. Combine the apple, celery, scallions, almonds, and cranberries in a large bowl, and add Vegenaise to bind it together. Stir in fried tempeh.

Combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, pepper, toasted sesame oil, and five spice in a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake vigorously to combine ingredients well. Pour 3 or more of dressing over the salad, depending on how spicy you'd like it. Serve salad in bowls, as a sandwich on toast, or open-faced as pictured above. Store remaining dressing in refrigerator for use in salads or stir-fries, for up to 1 week. Makes 4-6 servings.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sounds delicious! I love cranberries. Can't wait to try it!

rubyred said...

I clicked on the pic and saw what this salad looks like in super detail, and my mouth started to water and my stomach started to make noise. I guess I know what I'm making for dinner tonight.

Kendra said...

I've never used tempeh. This recipe has inspired me to try it. The combination of apples, cranberries, and almonds sounds delish.

Helen said...

I just made this recipe, Gail. It was even better than I expected! Thank you for sharing it. I think we'll be eating lots of this from now on, especially throughout the rest of the summer.