Tempeh Taco Crumbles

To quote an English Proverb: "Necessity is the Mother of invention".  When the need for something becomes imperative, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it.

That is how this receipt came about.  I was craving a taco salad.  Not any taco salad, but the one from my youth. The recipe for that taco salad will follow in my next post. Before you can have taco salad, you must have taco crumbles.

My intention was to make the "Walnut Tacos" recipe from Chris, Mr. Everyday Tastiness himself, but I had forgotten to soak the walnuts overnight.

Hmmmm. What to do? What to do?

Ah ha, what if I took a package of plain tempeh, grated it, and then added the spices?

Well, I'd get a different bowl of tastiness.  I followed most of his recipe, with a few small changes, and it turned out pretty darn good.  You can find his original recipe by following this LINK. Thank you Chris for the inspiration.

**  for gluten free -substitute gluten free tamari in place of the soy sauce, and make sure you are using a gluten free tempeh

TEMPEH TACO CRUMBLES

INGREDIENTS:

1 - 8 oz pkg plain Organic Tempeh (I use Trader Joes)
1 Tbsp Chili powder
1 Tbsp Cumin
1 tsp ground Coriander
1/2 tsp granulated Garlic
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Water

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Grate the tempeh into a medium sized bowl.

(Grated tempeh)

2.  In a small bowl combine the chili powder, cumin, coriander, garlic, and Italian seasoning.

(Spice mixture)

3.  Add spices to tempeh.  Stir well to combine.

(Tempeh with spices added)

4.  Drizzle soy sauce and water into tempeh mixture.  Again, stir well to combine.

(tempeh taco crumbles ready to eat)

You can heat the mixture at this point or use it as it is.  I prefer to use it as is in a taco salad.

Here is a teaser photo of the taco salad.

(Taco Salad)

- Bon Appetit

" Don't judge a taco by its price." - Hunter S. Thompson
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