If you were a student at Virginia Tech, chances are you spent some time at the Squires Student Center in the north eastern area of campus. It’s home to the University Unions & Student Activities (the organization in charge of all student organizations as well as many campus wide events), the music department and a good place to meet and hang out. Squires was also at the edge of campus, a short walk to downtown Blacksburg. One of the downtown places to catch a quick and tasty bite is Souvlaki. They have excellent pita wraps with cucumber sauce called Tzatziki. Mmmmm….

Tempeh with Cucumber Sauce

For some reason I was thinking back to my times at Tech recently and the regular, uneventful moments. The ones where it’s you and a few of your friends hanging, not really doing anything. Maybe watching TV, maybe having a drink, maybe grabbing a bite. Souvlaki’s was one of those placed I did that.

So in the interest of bringing back old memories I decided to have a go at making my own vegetarian version of their souvlaki pita. Now they have a vegetarian item on the menu, but back then I was more of a meat eater so I threw tempeh into the mix. The result? Pretty tasty but not Souvlaki. There’s no denying that meat is a great flavoring agent for the ingredients it’s added with. Give it a whirl, though. I enjoyed it.

Tempeh Pita Sandwich With Cucumber Sauce

Tempeh Pita Sandwich with Cucumber (Tzatziki) Sauce
Uses the larger hole sizes on your grater so the cucumber shavings don’t slip through the colander’s slots.

2 small pita pockets; cut in half
5 oz english cucumber; peeled and roughly grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup greek yogurt (or make your own)
Juice of half a lemon
1 garlic clove; minced
1 tablespoon fresh dill; chopped
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 onion; chopped
5 oz tempeh; crumbled

Toss the cucumber in a colander and hand mix in the salt. Press some of the liquid out and throw in a food processor. Add the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, dill and process till smooth.

Saute the onions for a couple minutes then add the tempeh and continue to saute for a few more minutes, adding more oil if necessary. Remove to a bowl and add the cucumber sauce until you reach your desired consistency. Fill your pita with lettuce, tomatoes and anything else you like in your pita sandwich before adding the tempeh. Enjoy.

Tags: , ,

Comments are closed.