Tempeh Milanese with Creamy Caper and Lemon Sauce

I found a new way to use the recipe for the Cornmeal-Crusted Tempeh that I posted previously. It actually works great as a vegetarian substitute for Giada de Laurentiis' recipe on the Food Network website for Pork Milanese with Creamy Caper and Lemon Sauce. I combined the ideas of the two recipes.

In Giada's recipe, she dips the cutlets into flour, eggs, and then breadcrumbs before frying. Instead of doing that, I dipped my cooked/marinated tempeh into buttermilk and then the cornmeal mixture from the tempeh recipe I posted from the Candle Cafe Cookbook. The coating stuck very well to the tempeh and became crispy once fried. I have no idea why I dipped them into buttermilk before the cornmeal mixture, it's not a part of either recipe, but it worked out nicely. It is optional.

The tempeh was delicious dipped into the Creamy Caper and Lemon Sauce. I was supposed to add parsely to the sauce, but I didn't have any.

We ate the tempeh with roasted cauliflower, sweet potatoes and red onions along with some garlicky kale. The bowl of Creamy Caper and Lemon Sauce is not visible in the above photo, but we found that everything tasted great dipped into it, not just the tempeh.

I suppose this can be the featured Meal of the Week #5. Here is the summary of the meal:

• Protein: Tempeh (the main source) plus whole grains and dairy
• Dairy: Mascarpone cheese and milks
• Whole grain: Cornmeal, Barley Flour and Potatoes
• Fruits/Vegetables: Kale, Cauliflower, Onion, Sweet Potatoes
• Fats/Sugars: Olive oil on all of the vegetables, grapeseed oil for frying tempeh, whole milk/cheese, a bit of maple syrup in the tempeh marinade