Outside the box.

I want to show you guys a spontaneous item I bought yesterday. I went to Sunflower with the sole purpose of getting some chia seeds, and got a little distracted in the tofu/tempeh section...

How could I resist?! The bottom of the package says "Fakin' Bacon." This was way too intriguing to pass up.

I broke in the "bacon" by making what I'd like to call a super gourmet dish!!

Tempeh "Bacon"-Wrapped Broccolini

Ingredients:

• 1 small bunch broccolini, divided into 2
• 2 strips tempeh bacon
• olive oil
• optional: salt and pepper

In a skillet, drizzle a small amount of olive oil and cook the tempeh bacon over medium-high heat.

In another skillet, saute the broccolini (after washing thoroughly!) in olive oil. Cook until the stems are somewhat soft.

And then wrap!

I wouldn't call this the most practical of meals, but it's nice to look at! Also, I cooked the tempeh to a crisp (I prefer crispy to chewy), but for this, I definitely wouldn't recommend crispy tempeh, only because it was quite difficult to wrap the pieces around the broccolini!

For this next one, I warn you to keep an open mind.

Think outside of the box, if you will.

I tend to throw together some interesting food combinations when I feel like making a certain cuisine and don't have the proper ingredients.

Exhibit A: tacos.

I wanted to make tempeh bacon tacos for dinner today. There were two problems with this:

1. I didn't have beans.
2. I didn't have cheese.

A vegetarian making tacos really only needs those two items. You're probably wondering what the heck I ended up doing.

Check this out.

Corn tortilla + 3 chili hummus + random (thoroughly washed) greens + crispy tempeh bacon,

topped with thawed frozen mushrooms and bell peppers,

and finally topped with spicy salsa and eaten in taco form.

I'll have you know that it was a delicious concoction. I'd do it again.

You're probably wondering why I keep emphasizing the fact that you should thoroughly wash your veggies. That's another story for another day...let's just say you won't want to be eating when you read about it.