Chopped Tempeh Salad with Apple, Almonds, and Mustard Vinaigrette
Steamed tempeh tossed warm in a sharp mustard vinaigrette, then chopped through red cabbage, crisp apple, kale, and watercress with toasted almonds and sesame over the top.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This lives in my refrigerator for the afternoons when I want something ready that is not another grain bowl. It is a chopped salad in the true sense, which means everything is cut small enough to get onto one fork at once, and that is most of why it eats so well. Tempeh is the piece people are least sure about, and I would ask you to judge it here rather than anywhere you have met it before, because steaming it first takes away the faint bitterness that puts people off and leaves the nutty, mushroomy flavor that makes it worth eating.
There are two moves that make this work. The first is steaming the tempeh for ten minutes before it touches a pan, which opens it up so it takes on the vinaigrette rather than sitting in it. The second is dressing it hot. Cubes straight off the heat pull the mustard and vinegar right into the middle of themselves, and by the time they are cool they taste seasoned all the way through. Then the cabbage and the kale go in and get rubbed with the rest of the dressing so they soften slightly while the apple and celery stay sharp.
The pleasure of this one is texture. There is the chew of the tempeh, the crunch of cabbage and apple, the snap of celery, the crack of a toasted almond, and the soft peppery collapse of watercress against all of it. Mustard and cider vinegar keep the whole bowl bright and stop the apple from tipping it sweet. It is the sort of salad that is genuinely better an hour after you make it, and better still the next day, once the cabbage has taken on some color from the dressing.
Ingredients
- Two 8-oz blocks tempeh, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 4 cups finely shredded red cabbage, from about half a small head
- 1 large firm apple (Honeycrisp or Braeburn), cut into matchsticks
- 4 cups lacinato kale, stems removed and leaves sliced thin
- 3 cups watercress, thick stems trimmed
- 2 celery stalks, sliced thin
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp maple syrup
- 1 shallot, minced fine
- 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions
- Steam the tempeh first: Cut both blocks into half-inch cubes and steam them in a covered basket over an inch of simmering water for ten minutes. They will look slightly swollen and smell faintly like mushrooms. This step is what removes the bitter edge tempeh can have and opens the grain so it takes on the dressing later.
- Toast the cubes in a dry pan: Heat a nonstick or well-seasoned skillet over medium-high and add the steamed tempeh in a single layer with no fat at all. Leave it undisturbed for three minutes, then turn and repeat, six to eight minutes total, until the cubes are spotted deep brown on two or three sides and smell toasted.
- Whisk the vinaigrette and dress the tempeh hot: While the pan works, whisk the mustard, cider vinegar, olive oil, maple syrup, minced shallot, and black pepper until it thickens and holds together. Tip the hot tempeh straight into a bowl, pour over about a third of the vinaigrette, and toss. You will hear it absorb. Leave it to cool to room temperature.
- Rub the sturdy greens: Put the sliced kale and shredded cabbage in a large bowl with another third of the vinaigrette and rub it in with your hands for a minute. The kale darkens and softens, the cabbage bleeds a little color into the dressing, and both lose the stiffness that makes them hard to eat raw.
- Cut the crisp things last: Slice the apple into matchsticks and the celery thin, and toss both with the remaining vinaigrette so the apple does not brown while it waits. Cut the apple no earlier than this, because matchsticks dry out fast and lose the snap that is half their job.
- Chop it all together: Add the tempeh, apple, celery, watercress, and parsley to the rubbed greens and toss thoroughly. Run a large knife through the whole bowl a few times if any piece looks larger than a bite. Scatter the toasted almonds and sesame seeds over the top just before it goes to the table.
Variations
- Curried: Whisk a teaspoon of curry powder into the vinaigrette and add a handful of raisins for a sweeter, warmer bowl.
- Tahini mustard: Add a tablespoon of tahini to the dressing for something creamier that clings to the cabbage rather than running off it.
- Fennel and orange: Use shaved fennel in place of the celery and orange segments in place of the apple for a brighter, more perfumed version.
- Smoky: Toss the tempeh with half a teaspoon of smoked paprika as it comes out of the pan, before the vinaigrette goes on.
- Pistachio: Swap the almonds for chopped pistachios, which are softer and give the bowl a greener, sweeter crunch.
Storage & Leftovers
Dressed and covered, this holds three days in the refrigerator and improves overnight. The cabbage and kale keep softening, the tempeh keeps drinking, and the color from the red cabbage spreads through everything. Keep the almonds and sesame in a separate jar and add them at the last minute so they stay crisp.
For packed lunches, put the tempeh and dressed greens in the container and lay the apple and watercress on top rather than mixing them in. The apple stays whiter and the watercress stays standing, and one stir with a fork at noon brings the whole thing together.
It does not freeze. The cabbage and apple both turn to water on thawing and the watercress disappears entirely. The tempeh alone, steamed, toasted, and dressed, freezes for two months and is a good thing to have in the door for a salad you build later.
Notes & Tips
- Cube before you steam: A whole block steams unevenly and then has to be cut hot. Half-inch cubes steam through in ten minutes and go straight into the pan.
- Use a dry pan: Tempeh browns perfectly well with no fat and stays firmer for it. Save the oil for the vinaigrette, where you will taste it.
- Dress the tempeh while it steams: The window is short. Once the cubes cool the vinaigrette sits on the surface and never gets to the middle.
- Rub the kale, do not just toss it: A minute of real pressure between your hands is what turns sliced kale from stiff to tender. Tossing with tongs does nothing.
- Cut the apple last: Matchsticks brown and dry faster than wedges. Cut them once everything else is in the bowl and get them into the dressing immediately.
- Keep the nuts out until serving: Almonds and sesame go soft within an hour in a dressed salad. A small jar on the side keeps the crunch that makes this bowl.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Tempeh, the sturdy greens, and the almonds are what make this a meal rather than a side. The tempeh carries the protein and the chew, the cabbage and kale give it bulk and fiber, and the almonds bring the fat that makes a salad this crisp actually satisfying.
- Tempeh is whole soybeans held together by a culture, and the fermentation is what gives it the nutty, mushroomy flavor and makes the beans easier on a lot of stomachs than they are otherwise. It brings both protein and calcium to a bowl with no meat in it.
- Almonds toasted until they smell warm are the crunch here, and they carry calcium, vitamin E, and the kind of fat that keeps you interested in a salad past the third bite. Sliced almonds toast in about four minutes and burn in five, so watch them.
- Red cabbage is what gives this bowl its color, and the deep purple comes from anthocyanins, the same pigments that make blueberries dark. Rubbed with vinegar it turns brighter still and softens just enough to eat by the forkful.
- Mustard, cider vinegar, and a small amount of maple syrup are the whole flavor structure. The acid keeps the apple from tipping the bowl sweet, the mustard emulsifies the dressing so it coats rather than pools, and the sesame seeds on top land nutty against all that sharpness.
- As you eat, pay attention to how many different textures land on one forkful, the chew and the crunch and the soft peppery cress, and let that variety be the thing that tells you when you have had enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really have to steam the tempeh?
It is the step I would keep if you keep only one. Unsteamed tempeh has a bitter, slightly chalky edge and it stays firm all the way through, so the dressing sits on the outside. Ten minutes of steam fixes both, and you can do it while you shred the cabbage.
Which apple holds up best?
A firm, tart-sweet one. Honeycrisp, Braeburn, and Pink Lady all stay crisp in the dressing for a couple of days. A soft apple like a Red Delicious turns mealy within an hour of being cut and takes the best texture in the bowl with it.
Can I use a different green?
Yes. Collard greens sliced into thin ribbons work beautifully and are even sturdier, and arugula can stand in for the watercress with the same peppery result. Keep at least one sturdy green and one peppery one and the balance holds.
How far ahead can I make this for the week?
Three days is the honest limit, and I would build the containers on day one rather than dressing a big bowl and dividing it later. Everything holds better undisturbed, and a salad that has been stirred four times loses its edges.