Vegan Dinner: Orange-Glazed Tempeh & [Chickpea] Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Last week, the vegan trio met up to have another thoughtful meal together. The meal included orange-glazed tempeh and a (chickpea) chocolate chip cookie cake. See how the recipes fared below!

Orange-Glazed Tempeh, from The Food Buff
I've never tried tempeh before, but its been on my list since we started these vegan dinners. Its just not something I would've been brave enough to try without an experienced vegan at my side. After a little bit of research and discussion with Ms. Vegan herself, I learned that tempeh isn't as weird as it sounds...and definitely not as strange as tofu (ugh). Ingredients include fermented soybeans and other grains like millet (we used Trader Joe's 3-grain tempeh); and it has a firm and "meaty" texture.

This recipe was simple, yet delicious. The sauce evaporated more than we expected during the boil/simmer stage, and we ended up topping the bowl off with some soy sauce for added flavor. But most importantly, I loved the texture and taste of the tempeh! I actually bought two packs of it earlier this week; I'm excited to integrate it into other recipes! Mmm barbecued tempeh, anyone? :)


Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, from Chocolate-Covered Katie
One of the strangest things I've ever eaten. Period. The batter smelled like chickpeas the entire time, even upon the addition of sugar, banana (which we swopped in for the apple sauce). Also instead of a typical free-standing cookie cake, we put the dough in an 8x8 pan, which I guess might've made this a blondie if we want to get technical.

As it baked, it did start to smell like chocolate chip cookies. And at a glance, the finished product did somewhat look like a pan of cookie. Upon the first bite, though, it was quite obviously NOT a cookie. While the melted chocolate chips and sugar was telling me it was a dessert, the texture and density was telling me that it was straight fiber and protein. Refried beans, hummus...you know the texture. Maybe if they were thinner, and thus less soft, they would've been more deceptive. 

Although disturbed, I still ate 3 squares. I blame this confusing behavior on the melted chocolate. It truly wasn't a horrible dessert...just be prepared to have a brick in your stomach for the next few hours after eating it.