Sunday Brunchin’ III: Basic Scrambled Tempeh + Roasted Butternut Squash

Hello all, and welcome to week three, (and post 11 on my blog, for those counting at home) of Vegan MoFo! The month is flying by and I can’t believe there are just two weeks and some change left of October. I hope you all are enjoying the posts here and all of the amazing things also being made by vegans all around the world on the MoFo RSS feed. I continue to be amazed and inspired by it! Today is Monday, and that means we pick up with the third installment in my Sunday Brunchin’  series.

I knew when I woke up yesterday that I wanted to switch gears and have a savory meal for brunch this week. The Pumpkin Spice Pancakes were great, (and fed us for about 5 more meals – they are the gift that keeps on giving!) but I’m mostly a savory brunch girl at heart. In my head I imagined we’d be making my tried and true scramble recipe, but the boyfriend picked up our copy of Vegan Brunch while I was feeding the cats. I said that we should probably start pressing tofu, but then he suggested we try making Isa’s Basic Scrambled Tempeh recipe. We both love the nutty taste and easy-to-cook-ness of tempeh yet had never scrambled it before, so this seemed like a home run. But what to serve it with?

I read the dish description and it recommended serving it with Roasted Butternut Squash, a side recipe in the book. Bingo! I’ll be honest with you guys: I have a fear of roasting fall/winter squashes. I’d tried to roast a butternut for the first time last year and it was a disaster. A huge mess and an inedible root vegetable. Since then I’ve been scared to touch another, but I thought I may as well try to right that wrong. So the boy went off to get the squash and some tempeh, and I started prepping.

When he got back, I checked the recipe and realized that we didn’t have enough tempeh, but improvised with the same amount of tofu, so this recipe could be called Basic Scrambled Tofu Tempeh. I am the queen of recipe improv.

I started making the squash, because it took three times the amount of time the tempeh recipe did, (which makes it such a quick breakfast recipe).

Our tools.

Peeled and sliced down the middle…

And chopped into a million pieces! I rinsed and saved the seeds, for a role in a future post.

The recipe said to line the pan with parchment, but I didn’t have any so I used foil. I was concerned it might ruin the recipe, but you have to use what you have around! Onto the tempeh/tofu.

There were very few vegetables (and ingredients, really) in this recipe, which is one reason why I loved it. It also didn’t have a lot in the way of seasonings/herbs, which is something I appreciated. I tend to err on the side of over-seasoning, so I love when recipes ask me to scale it back some.

Everything getting cozy in the pan.

Look, they came out perfectly! Crispy, browned and slightly sweet. I’m thankful I found a recipe that helped me conquer my fear of cooking fall/winter squashes! Well, at least butternut.

And here’s the plate I enjoyed with my mug of coffee.

Both recipes were relatively foolproof, and if you have yet to try either but own the book, I highly recommend them. I don’t have a cast iron skillet which would’ve worked perfectly to get both the tofu and tempeh nicely browned, but inevitably I’ll invest in this already-should’ve-owned kitchen tool, (along with many others). As Isa said about the combination of these two dishes, they “blend earthy and sweet,” and I agree that the combination is perfect for a cozy fall brunch at home.