I made this sandwich for Loren the other morning and had to take a bite.  It’s delicious and super filling–this is definitely a no side item sandwich!

First step, prepare your bread.  I put vegan butter on one side of both pieces of bread (just like a grilled cheese) and placed them on top of each other with the butter sides touching.  Then on the side of the top piece of bread that’s looking up at me (its un-buttered), I spread a thin layer of Vegenaise just to give the sandwich a little more flavor (I use the grape seed oil Vegenaise).

Next step, start your tempeh! Tempeh needs to cook in some liquid in the skillet for about 5 minutes before you place it on your sandwich.  I sliced a chunk off my tempeh bar and then sliced that bit thinly in half (so the two thin pieces would fit the bread perfectly).  I turned a small sized skillet on to medium heat, poured some soy sauce (about 2 T)  into it and then placed the tempeh on top, moving it around a little to ensure that it was covered and let it ride.  I flipped the temeph a couple of times to ensure that it warmed all the way through.  The tempeh will soak up the liquid in the pan.  Once it was finished, I started constructing the sandwich!

I put one slice of veggie cheese on top of the Vegenaise layer, then the tempeh on top of that, another piece of veggie cheese and finally, the last piece of bread (butter side out).  I’m assuming everyone has made a grilled cheese before so you all know that the butter sides of the bread go down on the pan. I used the same pan as I cooked the tempeh in; because the tempeh soaked up the soy sauce, I didn’t have to worry about cleaning it first.  Any reminisce left on the pan will add a little more flavor into the bread.  Cook the sandwich, flipping from time to time (still on medium heat) until its reached your desired deliciousness. (hehe)

You can fancy up the sandwich by adding onion, tomatoes, spinach, etc.  I was in a simple mood that day otherwise I would have! Maybe next time….