Tempeh Helper - Just like Mom's

As a child, I remember with great fondness the casserole combos my mom would make so often for our family's dinner. And why not, everyone knows that One-Dish meals are a mom's best friend.  One casserole that came into our weekly rotation quite often was Mac & Cheese, a pound of ground beef and a box of frozen spinach, all tossed together with some shredded cheese melted on top, a kind of "knock-off" Hamburger Helper.

Now, the dish below happened entirely by accident; the result of combining several random recipes all into one.  The outcome: a delicious dish of comfort food that unintentionally pays tribute to the homey casserole from my childhood!

Here's how it's done...  Let's go back

I have tried the Tempeh Helper from the PPK blog:



This was delicious, and truly mimicked the Hamburger Helper from a box (circa early 80s), which was a steadfast staple of my childhood.  One thing I also remember is picking all the meat out, and wishing just once, mom would make it with just the noodles and veggies, and forget the lumps of ground meat.

SO...  I had an entire batch of Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh that I was just dying to crumble into something, AND a fresh batch of homemade "Mac & Cheese" powder from this lovely blog: Our Veggie Kitchen.  Great stuff... Try it out.  It's pretty fantastic!

I cut the directions for the Mac & Cheese four (4) servings in HALF, to make the perfect portion for my casserole.  To make sure the cheese sauce is extra smooth, I pureed the powder with the liquid in my blender before boiling and adding the noodles.  When noodles are cooked, stir in 1 10 oz package of frozen spinach, thawed, and 4 triangles of Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh, crumbled. Toss in a small handful (or two) of shredded Daiya cheddar, and you're good to go. ^_^