Confessions

So here's the red lentil soup I made last night. Though we ended up going to Moe's Southwest Grill for dinner on a whim (because I love that place!), I decided to make the soup anyway so that we could have it for lunch this week. But I have to make a confession--I cheated.

Bob's aunt gave us this soup mix, which has been sitting in my pantry for awhile now. So I decided to use it up. It had the red lentils and the bulgur wheat already packaged, and it contained a spice packet that included red peppers, cayenne pepper, orange zest, and "other spices"--of which I identified ginger and cinnamon. I added vegetable broth, orange juice, an onion, and a butternut squash. Don't ask why I had a butternut squash on hand in the dead of summer--I'm not sure myself. Probably a gift from someone with squash-phobia. Anyway, our verdict on this soup: It's okay. It's definitely interesting. Maybe a little too sweet and orangey. I think I could reproduce this recipe if I wanted to, but I would probably make some serious modifications. More cayenne, less orange juice, more lentils, less bulgur. The butternut squash was my favorite part--this might have potential to be a nice autumn soup.

We made a loaf of bread last night. This is Oatmeal Wheat Bread, a recipe from Fatfree Vegan. It's a favorite. This loaf rose a little funny, though--it got really tall but didn't spread out much in the pan. It probably had something to do with the way we shaped it. I think Bob said he would leave the loaf-shaping to me from now on. Heehee. I'll let him stick to his pizza crusts.

Okay, well as the title of this post suggests, I have more than one confession to make. Here's the other: I'm a tempeh virgin. I've never tasted it, much less cooked it. But I've heard and read many good things about it, so I was at Earth Fare and finally decided to give it a try. My first fear is conquered--purchasing tempeh. But now it's sitting threateningly in my refrigerator, and I don't know what to do with it! I don't know how to cook it or if it's finicky like tofu is. I know nothing about it. So... any basic suggestions would be very much appreciated, before I crack open VWaV and try a recipe!