Jerk Tempeh Pitas

One of my favorite casual restaurants to dine in is Mellow Mushroom. The pizzas are great, but the sandwiches and salads are just as good, if not better. And the calzones, well they're just at another level of delicious! The other thing that makes Mellow so appealing is they have tofu and tempeh available as a substitute for meat in any entree. We typically go on Monday nights when they have trivia, but I love dropping in for lunch as well (Greek salad with tofu and Esperenza dressing is my choice at lunch!) JJ ordered this dish first time we ever went, and it's been hard for him to get anything else since.

The tempeh is seasoed with their jerk seasoning, then sauteed with onions, green pepper, mushrooms and pineapple. It's stuffed into a sub or pita, topped with spinach and tomatoes, and drizzled with pesto mayo. To recreate it at home, I just left off the spinach and turned the pesto mayo into a pesto-greek yogurt sauce. It was just as tasty, and less calories and fat, I'm sure!

Jerk Tempeh Pitas

inspired by Mellow Mushroom

4 whole wheat pita pockets, warmed and split

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 oz. button or cremini mushrooms, chopped

1 green bell pepper, finely diced

1 8 oz. package tempeh

1-2 tbsp. Jerk seasoning (I use Penzeys)

1 small (4-6) oz. can pineapple tidbits in juice

Black pepper

Sliced roma tomatoes

1/4 c. Greek yogurt

2 tbsp. prepared pesto

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.

Add onion, garlic, mushrooms and bell pepper.

Saute' for 10 minutes, or until water has cooked out and vegetables begin to caramelize.

Crumble in tempeh, add jerk seasoning, stir well.

Loosely drain excess juice from pineapples into a dish, reserve.

Add pineapple to skillet, stir well, taste and season with pepper or more jerk seasoning (if your jerk seasoning is salt free, you may need to add salt)

If mixture is dry, add a bit of reserved juice.

Spoon mixture into pita pockets, top with tomato slices.

In a small dish, mix yogurt and pesto, drizzle over pitas and serve immediately.