Tempeh? What's that?

My sister was curious about Tempeh, so I decided to do a post on it! There is just to much to be said in one comment.

If you have never tried Tempeh as a protein alternative to animal proteins, I highly recommend giving it a try. Some people love it (my whole family does!) and some people don't care for it at all. But hopefully, after you read this post, It will have at least sparked your interest in giving it a try.

Tempeh can be purchased at most all health food stores, and is usually in with some of the other vegan goods, like tofu. Litelife is a great brand. It comes in a kind of brick, usually in about 8 ounce servings. It is made from slightly fermented soybeans and it has been used as a staple food in Indonesia for hundreds of years. It is loaded with health benefits too. Some of these benefits include...

• 1 serving of Tempeh has more fiber than most people consume in an entire day. A 4 ounce serving has about 9 grams of fiber!


• It is easy to digest


• Low in sodium


• It contains natural antibiotics against some disease causing organisms


• Its great for diabetics who can have a hard time digesting animal proteins


• The protein is coupled with fiber (unlike animal proteins) and this helps to keep the blood sugar levels stable.
• It has photochemicals like isoflavones that strengthen bones, help with menopausal symptom's, reduces risk of coronary health diseases and some cancers.


• AND, it is a complete protein containing all of the essential amino acids

These are just some of the benefits of Tempeh. Give it a try and see what you think!

Curry Tempeh Wraps with Spinach

This is an awesome 'packable' for lunches, and was really easy. I got the curry tempeh recipe from The Blissful Chef, and just wrapped it all up in a whole wheat tortilla and some spinach and sliced tomatoes. It was simple and so good! And tempeh is really good for you too!

Curry Tempeh and Spinach Wraps

What you need:

1 Batch of curry tempeh "chicken" salad (recipe below)

baby spinach

Tomato slices

whole wheat tortilla wraps

Curry tempeh "chicken" salad:

Recipe from The Blissful Chef

8 ounce pkg. tempeh

1 celery stalk

1/3 cup of currants or raisins

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup veganaise (vegan mayo)

1 Tbsp. yellow mustard

1 Tbsp. curry powder

1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

sea salt and pepper to taste

Boil or steam the tempeh for about 10 minutes, Then crumble in a bowl and add celery, currants or raisins, and almonds. In a small bowl combine the beganaise, mustard, curry, and vinegar and add to the tempeh mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To Make:

Toast Tortilla over an open flame or in the oven or microwave until soft. Place spinach, a few good scoops of Curry Tempeh, a few tomatoes and a sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper, and warp it up.

You can also serve the Tempeh on a fresh green salad.

Curry Tempeh "chicken" salad

White Bean Cassoulet with Greens

Another recipe by Tanya Petrovna of Native Foods Cafe

This recipe does take a little time to cook, but it is so worth it! It was really good, and will make for some great leftovers too (it made a ton!). It is also really cost efficient, because the base of this recipe is dried beans, and if you get them from the bins at your local health food store, they are only about $1.50 or so a pound! I just got this recipe from the awesome cooking class I took in LA this past weekend.

ENJOY

White Bean Cassoulet with Greens

What you Need:

1 lb. dried navy beans

2 yellow onions

3 carrots

2 celery stalks

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 tsp. thyme leaves (can use dried or fresh)

4 bay leaves

8 cups cold water (it is important that the water is cold)

2 tsp. salt

4 vegan 'sausages' (I used Tofurky brand Italian vegan sausages)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

4-6 cloves of minced garlic, depending on size

1 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

10 cups of baby spinach

To Make:

Rinse Navy Beans and remove any stones or broken beans. Chop the onion, celery, and carrots into 1/4 inch pieces.

In a large soup pot heat olive oil and add the onion, celery, and carrots. Saute until golden brown and softened.

Add cold water, beans, bay leaves, and thyme. DO NOT ADD ANY SALT TO THE BEANS UNTIL THEY ARE FULLY COOKED.IT WILL AFFECT THEM COOKING CORRECTLY! Bring to a boil, and then simmer uncovered for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring about every 20 minutes.

While beans are cooking, cut the sausages on a bias into 1 inch pieces, then cut those pieces in half. Heat 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil in a skillet and brown the sausages well. When the beans are just about done, add the sausages, parsley and garlic, and simmer another 10 minutes.

Place some baby spinach in the bottom of a bowl and ladle in the cassoulet. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and top with a little garnish of extra parsley.

Adam and Eve Love Salad

I took a cooking class this past weekend from Tanya Petrovna, owner of Native Foods Cafe. She always has the best recipes, and I love getting my hands on new ones. This one could not be more simple! We served this with leftover Spicy Tomato Soup, but serve it with any of your favorite soups for a good, nutritious, and easy meal! It really is the perfect, easy side dish!

Adam and Eve Love Salad

What You Need:

2 cups shredded red cabbage

1 Granny Smith apple, sliced really thin

1 0z. balsamic vinaigrette

Freshly chopped dill, or add lots of dried dill to the dressing

sea salt

To Make:

Mix cabbage and granny smith apples in large bowl. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. Then drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette and add fresh dill to taste.

That's it!

Spicy Tomato Soup with Wilted Greens

mmmmmmmm...

I love soups so much. It's filling and satisfying while still keeping you feeling light and energized after. I had some things I needed to use up, and a soup is usually the perfect vehicle to do just that! You can literally throw whatever you want in this. Use any shape of pasta you want, and any greens you have. Get creative! If you have young kids, they would probably love a whole grain bow tie or elbow macaroni noodle added in! This soup turned out so delicious! I served it with some toasty homemade bread. You can get my go to whole wheat bread recipe here from the Bake-A-Holic. It is the best one I have found!

Spicy Tomato Soup with Wilted Greens

What you need:

3 Tbsp.Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 small sweet onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 26-ounce jar of your favorite pasta marinara sauce

Check the label on the sauce, make sure it has clean ingredients

1 32 ounce box of vegetable stock

15-ounce can great northern white beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes

3/4 cup of any whole grain pasta shape.

All I had around was a few sheets of leftover Whole Wheat lasagna noodles,

so I just broke that up in small pieces. Use any shape you want.

a couple huge handfuls of spinach

few pinches of sea salt

few pinches pepper

lots of fresh parsley for garnish

To Make:

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Cook the onion, carrots, and garlic, and saute 2-3 minutes, until softened. Add marinara sauce, vegetable broth, beans, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then stir in the spinach right at the last minute just to let it wilt a little. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.

Ginger Pasta with Zucchini

Adapted from The Kind Diet Cookbook

It doesn't have to cost a ton of money to feed your family healthfully! Recipes like this one are very nutritious, have a minimal ingredient list, and you can truly feel good about feeding it to your family and kids. It has simple, light, and clean flavors, which I love. It's totally nutritious, not costly, and it makes great leftovers.


Ginger Pasta with Zucchini
What you need:
1 regular sized box of Whole Wheat or Brown Rice pasta
1/2 block of extra firm tofu, drained and cut into bite sized cubes
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
soy sauce or tamari to taste
4 tsp ginger juice (zest a 4 inch piece of ginger and squeeze between fingers to get juice)


To Make:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the pasta according to package directions, until al dente. Drain and set aside.
Cut tofu into small bite sized pieces or gently mash with a fork in a bowl and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet and cook the onion with a few good pinches of salt and saute until the onion is translucent, about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the zucchini, with a few tbsp. of water added to the pan to help the onion and zucchini not stick. Saute zucchini 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the tofu and the soy sauce to the pan, and cook for about 2 more minutes. Then stir in the ginger juice and pasta noodles. Toss the pasta over medium high heat until the noodles are heated through and all of the liquid is absorbed.
We all drizzled a little extra soy sauce over each individual serving to taste.

Cabbage Taco Salad

One of my very favorite places to eat is at Native Foods, a vegan restaurant here in Southern California. I have seriously never tasted anything that the chef there, Tanya Petrovna, has made that I didn't love. I got the idea for this dish from a class I took from her. Hers was so amazing, and she made her refried beans from scratch. While I would totally be up to making them from scratch on a weekend when I had the time, I usually do not have the time to sit around and baby a pot of beans for hours. I usually have at most an hour to think of and whip up dinner, and that is pushing it! So I made a modified and much easier, and really quick version of what she taught us, and it was seriously delicious! I loved it, and so did my whole family. It was really filling, yet light and healthy at the same time. This is one that the husbands will love...

and, if you pack a lunch for your husband to take to school/work, this one packs perfectly because cabbage travels and keeps so much better thann regular lettuce!

Cabbage Taco Salad

what you need:

1 can of Vegetarian refried beans, heated

10 corn tortillas, toasted in the oven or warmed up in the microwave briefly and then cut up into smaller triangle like peices.

1 can (the slightly bigger size) of diced green chilies

2 medium tomatoes, chopped and sprinkled with a little sea salt and pepper

2 cups or so of shredded napa cabbage

1 avocado, chopped

1 cup of sliced black olives

Tofutti non-dairy sour cream - See below for the sour cream drizzle

Sour cream drizzle: mix a dollop of the Tofutti sour cream with water to thin out into more of a dressing. Season it with Salt, and pepper to taste.

To Assemble:

Place a few of the toasted corn tortilla triangles at the bottom of each bowl. Top with a scoop of the refried beans, then cabbage, green chilies, avocado, and tomatoes. Drizzle with a little sour cream drizzle, mix it up and enjoy! It seriously does not get much easier than this one!

Whole Wheat Penne with Spinach-artichoke cream sauce

I got the base idea for this recipe from The Vegan Cooks Bible, which is such a good book to have. I actually got it for Christmas from my sweet Mother-in-law, and she is the queen of finding great books. I made a few changes to the recipe, as I almost always do. I never really follow recipes to a tee. This is kid friendly (at least my kids loved it), but they do pretty much love anything that is paired with pasta. I love it when I find a recipe that is easy, and has fairly simple ingredients that you usually have sitting around anyways. As much as I love to cook a fancy, more labor intensive recipe... my weeks are busy, and I also love simplicity. Some people have a hard time with the whole wheat Penne, but I actually like it better. It has a little more of a bite which I like (I think it makes it more satisfying), and is so much healthier than its refined white cousin. Give it a try and see what you think!

Whole Wheat Penne with Spinach-Artichoke cream sauce

What you need:

3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1 regular sized can artichoke hearts in water with their liquid

1 10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and drained

3/4 cup or so of Tofutti non dairy sour cream (just eyeball it)

2 1/2 cups of whole wheat penne

Huge handful of chopped fresh parsley

dried Italian herbs

sea salt and pepper to taste

To Make:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.. Cook pasta according to package directions. While the pasta cooks, make the Spinach-Artichoke Cream Sauce.

Spinach-Artichoke Cream Sauce:

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook stirring occasionally, for 6-8 minutes or until soft. Add artichokes with liquid and spinach. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently for 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is evaporated. Stir in the Tofutti Sour Cream and heat through. Season the sauce with dried Italian herbs, salt and pepper to taste.

To Assemble:

add the past to the cream sauce, and them add in lots of fresh parsley at the last minute.

Serve and Enjoy!

Sesame mixed Vegetables with Herbs

Recipe from Living Raw Foods Cookbook

This salad is one of my absolute favorites! It is so refreshing, energizing, and with it being almost entirely raw it is packed full of enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. Your kids will love the familiar "noodleness" of the veggies. When I make a meal like this, I always make extra and eat it for days. This dish needs no other introduction, except to say that it is insanely good, and worth every ounce of effort it takes to prepare!

Sesame Dressing:

1 cup sesame Tahini

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup mellow red miso

3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp water

1/4 cup black sesame seeds

In a bowl, whisk together the Tahini, sesame oil, lemon juice, miso, and 1/2 cup of water. Add the remaining water a little at a time until smooth and desired consistency is reached. Stir in sesame seeds and set aside.

Vegetables:

4 cups daikon radish, julienne sliced on a mandolin if you have one

2 red bell peppers, cored and julienned

3 medium zucchini, julienned on mandolin

3 medium carrots, peeled and julienned

6 baby bok choy, leaves sliced thinly on a bias

3 baby scallions, whites and about 1 inch of greens, thinly sliced

a big handful of cilantro leaves

sea salt

To Assemble:

Mix all of the vegetables with dressing in a large bowl until evenly coated. season to taste with sea salt, and garnish with a few extra sprigs of cilantro.

On a side note:

While I personally love the variety of vegetables in this and think that each one adds unique texture and flavor, You do not have to go out and buy every single vegetable I have listed here to enjoy this salad. Seriously, this dressing is amazing on everything. Use what you have. If all you could get was a bunch of zucchini and carrots, and some cilantro, this would still be amazing. The dressing completely makes whatever you pour it on. If you want to use it as a dip for veggies, don't thin it out as much. Also, if you do not have a Japanese mandolin, just use your potato peeler to make long thin ribbons with the vegetables.

Arugula Salad with Sweet Orange Vinaigrette

Arugula Salad with Sweet Orange Vinaigrette

What you need

about 4 or 5 large hanfuls of Arugula

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup of toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled and chopped into large chunks

Tempeh Bacon 2 strips cooked and cut into small bite size pieces

Sweet Orange Vinaigrette

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp Pure Grade B Maple Syrup

1 tsp of orange zest

fresh squeezed orange juice (from the orange you zested) add to taste, I just took the juice from the one orange but just taste as you go to your own liking

salt and pepper to taste

2/3 cup olive oil whisked in last and slowly to emulsify

Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl, and toss with just enough vinaigrette to barely coat the salad. Go easy and light on the dressing so that you don't overpower the rest of the flavors of the salad.

Light, fresh, and easy!

Better Than Peanut Butter Cups

Adapted from The Kind Diet Cookbook

Do you love the marriage of Chocolate and Peanut Butter?

I made these little bites of deliciousness for the Superbowl and in the words of one of my friends, "These are better than Peanut Butter Cups!" I am going to have to make them a Superbowl tradition!

Keep them stored in the freezer, and eat them slightly chilled. mmmmmmmm

Its really, truly a shame that mine are already gone....

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

makes 12 large

What you need:

Regular sized muffin tin (holds 12 muffins)

muffin liners (I like the ones that are foil lined for this recipe)

1/2 cup of Earth Balance Butter

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp of crunchy peanut butter (the natural kind with no salt added, unsweetened that has to be stirred is best.)

11 vegan graham cracker squares, crushed very finely (5 1/2 graham cracker sheets)

1/4 cup+ 3 Tbsp raw turbinado sugar

1 cup of vegan semi sweet chocolate chips(Ghirardelli makes really good ones)

1/4 cup of unsweetened soy, rice, or almond milk

1/4 cup of chopped nut of choice, I used a blend of walnuts and pecans

To make:

Line muffin tins with liners.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 3/4 c. peanut butter, graham crackers, and sugar. Remove the mixture from the heat and evenly fill the muffin liners. About 2 Tbsp. per cup.

Over very low heat in a small saucepan, combine the chocolate, 2 Tbsp. Peanut butter, and milk and stir until just melted. Sweeten to taste with a little extra turbinado sugar (about 3-4 Tbsp.). Evenly distribute the chocolate on top of peanut butter layer in each cup. Sprinkle each peanut butter cup with chopped nuts and a generous sprinkling of turbinado sugar. Place in the freezer to chill for a few hours to let the mixture set and get firm. Keep in the freezer and pull out individually when you get the urge!