It's funny--those brief moments of cooking genius never occur when you think they will; and they're never associated with a complicated multi-course meal. It's always when you're hungry and improvising.

In southeast Michigan, you can get tempeh everywhere. So it's no surprise that a few different restaurants have tempeh wraps--the TLT at Seva, the lemon tempeh hummus wrap at Aut Bar, tempeh burgers at just about every bar.... Having made a giant batch of hummus for VeganYumYum's Avocado Wasabi Salad, I was itching to make something with hummus. About two weeks ago, I made a salad with smokey tempeh, so I got the notion to combine to the two.  This recipe is super simple--make a batch of hummus (or buy it, if you want to kick it really easy), saute a little tempeh, chop some lettuce and/or spinach, and you're set.

Smokey Tempeh Hummus Wrap

  • 1 pkg tempeh. cut into strips
  • 1/4 purple onion
  • 1/2 bag spinach (1/4 lb?)
  • 3 large leaves or 6 small-medium leaves of lettuce, cut into strips
  • 3 large whole wheat wraps
  • 1/4 batch of hummus
  • ~ 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 capful Liquid Smoke (tm)
  • ~ 2 tbsp peanut oil
  • salt & pepper, to taste

For brevity's sake, I'll assume you've made/bought the hummus already. This may be foolish. But.

Saute the tempeh strips in peanut oil, soy sauce, and Liquid Smoke (tm) in a large-ish frying pan over medium heat. Don't use all of the liquids right away; start with a little peanut oil, then douse the tempeh with about half the soy sauce and Liquid Smoke (tm). Once the tempeh is nicely browned on one side, flip and pour in a little more peanut oil and the rest of the soy sauce and Liquid Smoke (tm). Salt and pepper to taste.

When the tempeh is browned on several sides, remove from heat.

Slather hummus on one half of a wrap. Place a row of spinach down the center, then a row of lettuce on top of that. Run a row of tempeh down the the center, then garnish with onions and salt/pepper.

Roll the dry half tightly into the hummus-slathered half. Cut the wrap in half on a diagonal.

Wrap extra wraps in plastic wrap for lunches!