Dinner - March 22, 2010

Sort of a traditional midwestern meal made with odds and ends from the refrigerator. Starch: Quinoa pilaf with spinach. Protein: A "hamburger helper" like flavored tempeh sauteed with some mushrooms. Vegetable: Simple side of asparagus. Tasted about as unispired as it sounds.

Dinner - March 16, 2010

The other day I was trying to remember that tempeh recipe that Matt liked. I thought I should check my blog. It wasn't there then but I think this is it.

This is Curried Tempeh with Brown Rice and Peas from Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen. I substituted sugar snap peas and served cauliflower on the side.

Not a power house of a dish but a nice way to make tempeh. The result is a sort of mild risotto like dish although it is definitely not risotto.

Now that I have found it, I will try it again.

Dinner - January 31. 2010

This was Berley's Quinoa with Brussels Sprouts, Tempeh, and Toasted Almonds from Fresh Food Fast. I made a single recipe which was much easier as it fit nicely in the pan.

I used 1/4 cup of oil instead of the 1/3 of cup called for. With that modification I got 684 calories per servings for four servings.

I think this is a simple tasting dish that is very satisfying. I could serve it to vegetarians but I probably would pick something a little more fancy if I were going to being serving guests. This will remain a standard for me for week nights. The left overs make a nice lunch too.

Dinner - January 4, 2010

My purple cauliflower turned blue and helped me create this red, white, and blue meal. I say it is pretty damn American for not containing any beef.

This is Braised Tempeh with Curried Coconut Sauce from the Healthy Hedonist. I used hard cider for the apple juice and some of the water. I had to fake the spices and skip the dried coconut garnish. I also substituted half the amount of full fat coconut milk for the light type. I guess this is really not all that close to the recipe.

I enjoyed it but was not that impressed. I did keep going back for more so it worked well in a comfort food kind of way. I do think the tempeh ended up a little too salty.

I will not be making this for anyone else but when the ingredients end up in my refrigerator, I would try it again.

Hot Weather Ratatouille

It was too hot to turn the oven on and it was getting late. I opted for this easy one dish stove top recipe. It is called Tempeh Ratatouille and is in Berley's book Fresh Food Fast. He calls for oil and serving it on cracked wheat but we skipped both. I also only used half the tempeh.

I was not expecting much and found I loved it. Matt was remembering a recent Ratatouille we made from Berley's Flexitarian Table and could only say this one had potential. I really don't know what to expect from the dish so the ease and flavor won me over.

We do think more effort should be made to cook the tempeh longer but this was probably due to the lack of oil. Also this barely fit in my dutch oven so I don't know what kind of large skillet he has. I used the juice of lemon as the recipe called for but I probably should have reduced this since we didn't have the oil.

We enjoyed a very nice bottle of champagne. I was surprised to find the wine was great with the raw bits of vegetable I stole while chopping, in particular the tomatoes. It didn't do too well with the lemon juice and hot pepper in the final dish but there was not much wine left by that time anyway.

When Matt wasn't looking I used a piece of whole wheat bread to sop up the great liquid left on my plate. The picture is from half way through the meal.

We ate about half of this for dinner and took the other half for lunch the next day. I thought it made a great lunch.