DIY food: tempeh and lotus root salad with miso dressing

this salad is so good! Joey has a really delicious and quick/easy way of heating up tempeh that it makes it crispy and enhances the nutty flavor. serve it with a miso dressing and it’s the ultimate refreshing and nutritious summer salad.

Mr. Kate’s Tempeh and Lotus Root Salad with Miso Dressing (vegan)

Prep It (makes two large salads):

1 head of romain lettuce
1 package of tempeh – we usually use the one from Trader Joe’s
a sploosh of olive oil
a sploosh of soy sauce
2 organic persian cucumbers
a handful of pearl or cherry tomatoes
about a cup of pickled or steamed lotus – it’s sold at many Asian markets vacuum-packed in water.
dressing: cup of mellow miso (try a white or yellow miso), cup of water, cup of light oil like canola, tablespoon of agave, 2 tablespoons of rice or white vinegar.

DO IT!:

slice your hunk of tempeh horizontally in about 1/4″ wide slices
coat a frying pan in a sploosh of olive oil – you’re frying the tempeh so around 1 to 2 tablespoons. let your tempeh heat in the oil and start to crisp.
sploosh around a tablespoon of soy sauce into the fry pan with the oil and tempeh and let that brown the tempeh into a nice golden color. remove from heat and let cool a little.
prep your lettuce, slice your cucumber and quarter your lotus root and put them all together in salad bowls with some pearl tomatoes on top.
mix your dressing: 1 cup of mellow miso dissolved by stirring with one cup of water, add 1 cup of canola oil, 1 tablespoon of agave and 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar or white vinegar. mix and serve over your veggies and tempeh!