Tempeh Rendang

VeganMofo Day 15: Today's recipe is from the cookbook "Way to Cook Vegetarian" by Cooking Light. Rendang is a spicy Indonesian dish usually made with meat, this recipe uses tempeh instead of meat. Tempeh

has stronger flavor than tofu and has a meaty texture that works great in this dish.

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Herbed Tempeh Stew

We came to the end of yet another week long blogging marathon, as usual it went by pretty fast. I enjoyed making and eating all the “winter special” dishes and also the awesome dishes my fellow marathoners have cooked up this whole week. Thanks to Valli for organizing the marathon and I’m already looking forward to the next one. 

For the last day of the marathon, I made this hearty stew with tempeh, veggies and herbs. I bookmarked Vaishali's Savory Herbed Tempeh Stew recipe more than a year ago and finally got to make it for the marathon. Stews are thicker and heartier than soups. This recipe is thick, creamy and delicious -- a perfect winter meal. I let my stew simmer a little longer to make it thicker.

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Vegan Potato Pizza

I was looking at my cookbook collection and I realized that I have made a big progression over the years in selecting cookbooks. I bought cookbooks from places you wouldn’t even think to look for books. The first cookbook I bought “Indian cooking” was from Costco and it has very limited vegetarian recipes. I remember just glancing at the book cover and the next thing you know; book was home, didn’t even bother to see what was in the book. My next cookbook was from “Marshalls” and the same thing happened again.

I collected quite a few books that have not much use to me as they have minimum vegetarian recipes. But with time I realized (and a nice little discussion with my DH) that I’m amassing all these book to gather dust and that’s when I started to research a little bit before actually buying (and if you want to know, the last 4 cookbooks I bought were from amazon). I bought all of Isa Chandra’s vegan cookbook collection recently and I’m very very happy with all 3 of them.

I also have to mention about the great library that I have in town; it is a part of a co-operative library system and if my local library doesn’t carry a particular book (which is 9 out of 10 times), they can borrow it for me from any of the 75 other libraries… how cool is that!!! I might have borrowed about 25 books till now using this (or should I say misusing this). If I think I like the book and I should have it, then I buy on amazon. Its been working great for me.

So now coming to the recipe, this is my entry to Vaishali’s (@ Holy Cow-Earth Vegan) Vegan-Italian event. Recipe is from Isa’s Vegan With a Vengeance (VWaV) and has two very unusual pizza toppings: Potato and Tempeh crumbles.
And what do you know Pillsbury Pizza Crust is vegan; and I had Bertolli’s tomato and basil pasta sauce on hand; that cut my prep to practically nothing. I changed the recipe just a little bit since I didn’t have some of the ingredients on hand, but both DH and I liked the pizza very much.

Ingredients:
Pizza Crust – 1, homemade or store-bought (I used Pillsbury brand)
Potato – 1 medium, thinly sliced
Tempeh crumbles* – 3 tbsp (Recipe follows)
Pizza sauce – 1/3 cup
Garlic – 3 cloves, thinly sliced
Onion – 1 small, thinly sliced
Olive oil – for brushing
Method:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
  
• Rinse potato slices until the water runs clear, 2-3 times to remove any excess starch.
  
• Roll out the dough onto a pizza stone or foil covered baking sheet.
• Spread the tomato sauce with the back of a big spoon on the crust. As per Isa you should still be able to see some of the crust through the sauce-otherwise pizza might get soggy, so that’s what I did.
  
• Scatter all the other ingredients on the crust making sure that potatoes and onions lay flat for even cooking. Drizzle little olive oil on potato, onion and garlic to make sure that they don’t dry out in the oven.
  
• Bake in the oven and check after 8 minutes. Once the crust is lightly browned the pizza is ready, takes about 12-14 minutes.
  
• Remove and let cool before enjoying this unique pizza.
  

Tempeh Crumbles:
Ingredients:
Tempeh – 1 pk, any variety
Fennel Seeds – 1 tbsp
Dried Basil – 1tsp
Dried Oregano or marjoram – 1tsp
Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
Soy sauce or Tamari – 2tbsp
Olive oil – 1tbsp
Lemon juice – 1tbsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

• In a small pan, crumble tempeh; add enough water to almost cover it. Over medium-high heat, simmer until most of the water evaporates; about 12-15 minutes.
  
• Drain remaining water; add the rest of the ingredients and cook on medium heat stirring occasionally till lightly browned; about 10 minutes.

Grilled Tempeh with Broccoli Rabe and Red Peppers

Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans and has higher content of protein, vitamins and dietary fiber compared to tofu. It also has a different texture and a very strong flavor (slightly bitter). My favorite way of cooking tempeh would be baking it in a marinade and made into a sandwich. Grilling it would be my second favorite; grilling makes it juicy and yummy.

I used broccoli rabe for the first time in this recipe. I have to admit that I didn’t like it. I thought I would because I like Karela (bitter gourd), but this was way too much bitter for my palate. Next time, I’m going to make this with either broccoli or broccolini (never had this before and is on my must-try list; now that broccoli rabe is out of it).

Recipe adapted from here.
Ingredients:
For the marinade:
Low-Sodium Tamari – 4 tsp
Olive oil – 4 tsp
Balsamic vinegar – 1 tbsp
Garlic, minced – 1 tbsp
Dijon mustard – 1 tsp
Dried basil – 1 tsp
Dried Oregano – 1 tsp
Onion powder – ½ tsp
Paprika – ½ tsp
Red pepper flakes – ½ tsp
Salt and Pepper – to taste

For Tempeh:
Tempeh – 1 8oz. pkg any variety (I used veggie style tempeh)
Red Onion – 1 medium, diced
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Broccoli Rabe – 1 bunch, roughly chopped
Red pepper – 1 medium, diced
Garlic – 1 tbsp, minced
Nutritional Yeast – 4 tsp
Salt and Pepper – to taste

Method:

• First prepare the tempeh for marinating. In a medium sauce pot bring some water to a boil. Cut tempeh into quarters and add them to the water. Let the simmer covered for 10 minutes.
  
• In the meantime whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a dish that’s big enough to place tempeh.
  
• After 10 minutes, remove tempeh from water and immediately place in the marinade. Cover and marinate for at least 1 hour.
  
• Preheat grill pan on medium-high heat. Grill tempeh for 5 minutes on each side.
  
• Reserve the marinade. Keep grilled tempeh warm in a warm oven until ready to serve.
  
• Then prepare broccoli rabe and red-pepper. To remove the bitterness of broccoli rabe, bring some water to a boil in a large skillet, cover and cook it for 5 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
  
• Wipe the skillet clean and add oil; when hot, add onions and sauté for 5-8 minutes until onions are soft and golden. Add garlic and red pepper. Sauté until peppers are tender. Then add cooked broccoli rabe, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. Serve along with grilled tempeh and rice.
  

This is my entry to this month’s JFI-Soy hosted by Lovely Sia @ Monsoon Spice. (JFI is the brain child of Indira @ Mahanandi)

Tempeh Club Sandwich

I’ve recently started venturing into different types of soy products and gluten (seitan, I made seitan from scratch two ways: boiled & baked, will post about them soon).

I cooked with tempeh once before, but didn’t like it much. Recently I watched Toni Fiore cook with tempeh on Delicious tv and decided to give it a try. I loved it so much that I made it twice in 3 days.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients (makes 4 sandwiches):
For Barbequed Tempeh
Tempeh – 1 pkg (I used three grain variety)
Tamari – ¼ cup
Apple cider Vinegar – ¼ cup
Maple Syrup – ¼ cup
Vegetable oil – 4 tbsp
Ground Cumin – 1 tbsp

For the Sandwich:
Bread Slices – 8
Romaine Lettuce – 4 leaves
Red Onion – 1 small, thinly sliced
Swiss Cheese slices – 4
Russian Dressing – 4 tbsp (I mixed ¼ cup of mayonnaise with 2tbsp ketchup and 1tsp of hot sauce)
Oil/ Butter/ Margarine – for brushing on the bread

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
  
• Slice the tempeh into four pieces. Lay the tempeh in a baking dish. Mix all the marinade ingredients for bbq tempeh in a small bowl and pour it evenly on the tempeh.
  
• Cover with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes. Check after about 20-25 minutes and if most of the marinade is absorbed, remove the foil and continue baking till tempeh absorbs almost all the marinade, but is not too dry. Remove and let cool a little bit.
  
• To make the sandwich: Make an assembly line of sliced onions, tomatoes, cheese, tempeh, bread, lettuce and the spread.
  
• Heat a heavy skillet on medium for grilling the sandwich. Layer the bread with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, tempeh and cheese. Top the cover slice with dressing.
  
• Drizzle the skillet with little oil, swirl around and place the sandwich. Grill for about 4-5 minutes till the bread is nice and toasty. Flip and grill the other side.
  
• Serve hot with a side of salad. It’s very filling and yummy!!!
  

This is my entry to Anupama’s Sandwich festival 2008 and to Sara’s WCC-28 TV Cooks.