Tempeh Helper

Borderline brain dead, so this is all you get. Tempeh Helper from Appetite for Reduction. A pretty good homage to a meal from my childhood!

Tempeh Asado with too many sides

At the bbq on Sunday, some awesome vegan gifts were bestowed upon me. See:

The cookies were delicious and didn't survive more than two days, and I was so excited to receive Viva Vegan! I had checked it out of the library recently, and loved it so much, I put it on my wishlist. And Jen is just so gosh darn amazing, she bought it for me! Yay for awesome friends who are also fabulous gift-givers.

Unfortunately, my first go-round fell on an evening when I was starving and needed to go to the store, and therefore, long prep time was absolutely out of the question. I couldn't decide between the side dishes I wanted to accompany my tempeh asado, so I made them all: fried plantains (so bad, but sooo good!), braised kale, and cilantro-lime rice. Everything was so good, and it was all relatively easy to put together.

Thanks, Jen! You're the bee's knees! (But you already knew that.)

Coconut Tempeh Curry

I recently discovered Tofurkey's line marinated tempeh strips, and I can't lie: I got really excited. I bought a pack of Coconut Curry tempeh, and the back had a super quick and easy recipe on the back for a curry. It combines a lot of foods and flavors I like, and it turned out really well. If you come across these (this is the first time I've ever stumbled upon them in m 3+ years as a vegan), I'd say give them a try! They're yummy and great for nights when you're low on time/energy/sanity. And, if you're working and going to school full-time, like yours truly, that might be more often than you'd like.

Tempeh Curry

Source: Whole Foods

I'm not sure how I feel about curries, but when I saw this recipe featured on Whole Food's Facebook, I decided to give it a go, simply because of the sweet potatoes. Yes, my culinary decisions are that easily swayed.

The prep took a bit of work - steam and cut tempeh, peel and cut sweet potatoes, cut onion, cut green beans - but after that, it was pretty easy to pull together.

I'm still not sold on curries, but that isn't to say this was a bad recipe. I just don't know how well curries and I mesh. If you like curries, or are tempted to try one, I'd say give this one a go!

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

1 cup long-grain brown rice
2 cups water
1 (8-ounce) package tempeh
1 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon ground curry powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, divided
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Method

Bring rice and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer until liquid is completely absorbed and rice is just tender, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, arrange steamer basket in a pot. Add enough water just to reach bottom of basket. Bring to a boil. Cut tempeh in half and place in the steamer basket. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and steam about 15 minutes or until tender. Remove tempeh and set aside until cool enough to handle. Cut tempeh into 1/2-inch cubes.

Bring 1/2 cup broth to a simmer in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger and cook 5 minutes or until onion is translucent and tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in curry and cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add coconut milk, potatoes, tempeh and remaining 1 cup broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook 10 minutes. Stir in green beans and return to a simmer, uncovered. Cook about 5 minutes longer or until potatoes and green beans are tender. Stir in 3 tablespoons cilantro and salt. To serve, spoon curry over rice and garnish with remaining 1 tablespoon cilantro.

Nutrition

Per serving: 510 calories (110 from fat), 12g total fat, 5g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 90mg sodium, 80g total carbohydrate (13g dietary fiber, 8g sugar), 24g protein