Baked Tempeh, Apple, Mustard and Onion Chutney Panini with One Bowl Chopped Salad (Bread Diva Photo)

For the millionth time, I love sammiches! Even better to have when you bake your own bread--and the flavors of sweet, sour, bitter were all present in this tempeh/apple-bake. (I don't have a panini press--come on now, do we really need every single kitchen gadget ever made? I think not. I use good old elbow grease and a griller pan with a heavy wooden cutting board on top and smashed!)

For the layering: I first spread vegan margerine on the inside pieces, then grill them face down to get the crusty flavor going. Then, I spread vegan mayo on both sides, then layered my tempeh/apples on and finally, put my onion chutney on top and a bit of shredded vegan cheese--I love vegan cheese! Then lightly spread some margerine on the outside, and press away! They are superb, trust me!

I know, I am totally a "Bread Diva".

What my tempeh and apple stuff looked like after it baked. Yum! I could have eaten this as is. (And I did before Mr. Thyme came home!)

"Bread Diva" with scar (see my little scar next to my chin--there's a few under my neck, but you can hardly see them and sorry no close-up shots). I have a date with Mederma every few hours. My make-up skills will totally hide this. My hives, still there, but slowly getting better. What will the doctor give me tomorrow?

I craved bread. I made ciabatta again. The ciabatta has earned a spot as a staple in our bread cabinet.
Again, I turned to Peter Reinhart's pain a l' ancienne for my recipe--it's so easy! As I contemplated the type of sammich we'd have, I thumbed through my cookbooks. I have so many, it's a blessing and a curse sometimes, honestly. As I narrowed it down, I ended up taking two recipes and making them into one, making my own adaptations to satisfy both my taste and my fridge's content.

I have not been to the store or left my house in a car for three weeks, expcept to make one stop last Saturday when Mr. Thyme and I had a "grocery-store-visit-to-get-Kelly-out-of-the-house" moment. I was too tired to do much else the rest of the day. (We needed dog food.) Same still holds now as I await the disappearance of my measle-hives (which still cover my entire body, thus, keeping me from getting any good sleep because I wake up every few hours scratching then going into a benedryl coma). I won't leave the house until the rash lessens a bit--I look like a bad science fiction character. Seriously. I took a photo of me outside--I have some more healing to do, clearly.


So last night, after my bread exploit, I was panini-bound. I pulled my babies out of the oven and just beamed! The bread looked awesome, and turned the perfect brown color--I was so proud. Now, down to what might befit such lovely bread. I pulled out a cookbook I've had for quite awhile, Didi Emmon's Vegetarian Planet. This cookbook, while not all vegan, is welcome in my kitchen because her wonderful repertoire of seasonings, flavors and serving suggestions really make for an amazing thumbing through experience. (On the subject of non-vegan cookbooks: I believe you must learn to navigate the greater majority of non-vegan cookbooks for inspiration--because truthfully, there's more of them out there than there is vegan.) My second recipe inspriration comes from Peter Berley's The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen--this cookbook is top notch. Peter has extensive knowledge of all things vegetarian and incorporates this well throughout his cookbook. He is very accessible in terms of his writing style. He's a regular for me. I will pull him down at least three times a week for food ideas. And so it was, I had found a tempeh sandwich idea in Peter's cookbook that required apple cider. I was out, so I used a sliced Granny Smith apple instead. He suggests topping his sandwich with sauerkraut--I was not loving that idea, so I instead used inspiration from DiDi and came up with the onion chutney to top it all off with. I was very glad I did. My salad idea comes by way of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. (I am not a "salad" gal--how hard is it to throw some lettuce in with other fixings and top with olive oil and vinegar--it's not, but the salad doesn't make regular appearances in this house, so when it does, I have to brag!) I love this cookbook because I can flip to nearly any page and be inspired--it's photographed so beautifully. I turned to Jamie's salad section and fell for the chopped salad--though he makes his on a cutting board and uses different ingredients, I opted for a bowl mix and what I had in my fridge. I also used flavored extra-virgin olive oil for my salad--it helps. This is a wonderful, tasty vegan meal--we loved it! First is the panini recipe. If you like to have a "spread" of some kind on your bread like I do--I opted for a swipe of vegan mayo on both pieces of bread prior to stacking my panini. Mr. Thyme said he thought some horseradish would be good, too--so try that! Then below, you'll find my adaptation of the chopped salad.

Baked Tempeh, Apple, Mustard and Onion Chutney Panini

1 package tempeh
1 green apple, sliced thin (leave the skin on)
1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons tamari or light soy sauce
3 tablespoons stone ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground caraway seed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Spike seasoning
fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Have a shallow baking dish ready for use in marinating and cooking the tempeh. First, cut the tempeh in half and place the two pieces in a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and turn down to allow it to simmer for 10 minutes. While this cooks, whisk your marinade ingredients together in a bowl: OJ, soy sauce, mustard, seasonings--save apples for adding last on top of tempeh. When tempeh is ready, drain and set aside to allow to cool a bit. Then, slice the two pieces in half to make two thin patties out of each one--so you'll have four thin pieces. Now, place the tempeh in the baking pan, spread the sliced apple pieces around it and top with marinade. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

For Onion Chutney (so simple!)

1 yellow onion sliced thin
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan. Add sliced onion. Allow onion to cook over medium-low heat until the ends of the onion begin to brown a bit--not burn, just get brown or limp--about 10 minutes. Next, add brown sugar and vinegar, mix well to incorporate. Let this sit on low heat for another 5 minutes or so. The onions will begin to caramelize. Remove from heat.

One Bowl Chopped Salad

Very simple, really. Take and chop up whatever you have on hand and whatever sounds good to you. We had an orange pepper, a half of a cucumber, some romaine lettuce, some green onions--I used five, and a half of an avacado. Chop all up and place in a bowl. Make a well in the middle. I prefer a more oil-based vs. vinegar-based dressing, then I always add a dash of maple syrup--it works. So, as you can see above, the salad mixing is the easiest part. Here's the ratios I used--simply place in the middle of the bowl, then toss away!

5 tablespoons extra virgin lemon olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
drizzle of maple syrup
fresh ground pepper