Sambal Marinated Tempeh

I thought I had already posted this recipe as it is our favourite marinade for tempeh but apparently not. I marinated two blocks overnight and used Vegilante's mung bean tempeh and it was AWESOME! My favourite tempeh ever.

Have you tried Vegilante's tempeh yet? They are taking orders online and delivering free in the Kelowna area so support this amazing local business: www.vegilante.ca

This recipe is an adaptation from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. She is a vegan guru and has a website as well: www.theppk.com


Amazing Marinated Tempeh

1 or 2 blocks tempeh of your choice, defrosted

1/2 cup red wine of your choice
1/4 cup sambal oelek (or sriracha or other hot sauce of your choice)
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne

Fill a frying pan half full with water and bring it to a boil. Poach the tempeh for 5 minutes. Some people don't poach but we always do. We prefer the flavour of poached tempeh. If you've not had tempeh both ways, try them and see what you prefer!

Slice the block in half so that the block is half as thick then cut into 4 so that you have 8 pieces per block.

Mix the marinade ingredients together in a dish with a lid and place the tempeh in the marinade. You want to make sure all the tempeh is in the marinade. Marinate the tempeh for an hour or more. If you can leave it overnight, it's even better. Shale the container gently from time to time to mix the marinade over the tempeh.

You can bbq or bake or actifry the tempeh. We actifry it for 10 minutes at 400 then flip it and cookit another 15 minutes. BBQ is delicious too. You want it to be crispy around the edges. We put the extra marinade in a small pan and reduce it then spread it on the cooked tempeh.

This makes excellent sandwiches too!

Instapot Pea Soup and Tempeh Crunchies

vegilante.ca

This is a recipe adapted from www.veggieinspired.com

I wouldn't make the tempeh crunchies the same way again... I will write what I did but then also write what I think I will do next time.

Have you tried Vegilante Tempeh yet? It is just awesome.

1SP for the entire pot on WW Purple.

Pea Soup

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and grated or chopped into small pieces
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups split green peas, rinsed well
6 cups vegetable stock
salt

Select sauté on the instapot and set the temperature to medium. Add the oil. When it is warm, fry the onion, carrot and celery until they soften.

Add the potato, thyme, liquid smoke, pepper, and garlic. Stir for a minute until everything is well mixed together.

Add the stock and scrape the bottom of the pot to deglaze it. Add the peas, a tsp of salt and bay leaf and stir all together making sure the peas are under the liquid.

Press cancel on the instapot. Put on the lid and make sure the vent is turned to "sealing".

Press manual and make sure the temperature is set to high. Set the timer for 12 minutes. Leave the pot to do its thing and allow it to vent at least 10 minutes when it is done before releasing the vent to allow the rest of the steam to escape. Be careful not to burn yourself.

Remove the bay leaf and enjoy! I didn't blend the soup - that is up to you. I did add more salt.

Tempeh Crunchies

1 pkg tempeh
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
Spray of oil

Cut the tempeh into small pieces. You can crumble it if you want but I found it became more of a mushy mess.

Lay the tempeh on a pan and spray with oil then sprinkle with salt, paprika, cayenne and liquid smoke.

I air-fried the tempeh for 5 minutes, tossed then fried again for another 5 minutes. You could put them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 then toss them and put them in for another 5, You want them to be crunchy but not burned!

It made little crunchy bits but I found them a bit tasteless. We sprinkled them into the soup and it added a nice crunch but I think that next time I would marinate the tempeh pieces in 1 tbsp soya sauce, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp cayenne, 1 tsp liquid smoke, and 1 tsp sugar. It will add a point to the mixture but I think the flavour will be better.

Savoury Kasha Balls

So I made kasha for breakfast this morning but used too much water in the pressure cooker and ended up with more mush than texture. We ate our breakfast anyway (raspberries and bananas and oat milk made it good) but I still had almost 2 cups of kasha left to use. I decided to make kasha balls.

This recipe is adapted from a recipe I found on Yummly.

3SP for 18 balls on WW Purple.

Savoury Kasha Balls

~ 1.5 cups cooked kasha (buckwheat groats)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp italian herbs
1 tsp onion powder

Mix all together in a bowl. Spray a cookie sheet or tray with oil. Form into balls using 1-2 tbsp of mixture. Spray top of balls with oil if airfrying just to crisp them up.

I put them in my airfryer at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

You could bake them at 350 but watch them - check after 15 minutes and then maybe continue to cook them for another 15 minutes until the outside is crispy. You could deep fry them as well.

Serve warm with dijon mustard. My husband wants to make a sandwich with them. I'm sure they will be good cold also.

Not Really Korean Kimchi Soup

This soup requires several specific Korean ingredients that I didn't have so this is my version of the kimchi soup that I love. Watch the kimchi as it can have shrimp in it.

WW blue or purple: 2 pts for the entire soup

Ingredients

4 cups vegetable stock
1 sheet of nori
2 cups cabbage kimchi, shredded
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 package of enoki mushrooms
1 block of tofu, sliced, your choice of firmness
1 cup green beans, fresh or frozen, cut in half
2 tbsp shiro miso (or any miso you have)
1 hard boiled egg per person (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

If the beans are fresh, parboil them to soften them and add the tofu to simmer for a few minutes before cutting the tofu into cubes.

Heat the stock and crumble the sheet of nori into the stock. Add the cabbage and allow to cook for five minutes.

Add the mushrooms, tofu and green beans and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the miso. Once the miso has dissolved, stir in the kimchi and allow to heat through but don't bring it to a boil.

Place a peeled egg in each bowl and ladle the soup overtop. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

You can play with the amount of kimchi that you want to add - we added another small scoop of kimchi to our bowl of soup. Great for your gut health apparently!

Quick InstaPot Teriyaki Tempeh

This is a great quick dish - 30 minutes max from start to finish.

2SP on WW blue or purple. Makes enough for 2 - 4 people depending on what you serve it with. 2 of us finished it over rice.

I recommend poaching your tempeh first for about 5 minutes but if you prefer a firmer and stronger flavour, skip the poaching.

1 pkg tempeh (I used black bean tempeh)
1/4 cup tamari or soya sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp roasted sesame oil (or olive oil)
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp minced ginger
1/2 head chopped cauliflower (you could use broccoli)
1 chopped onion
1 cup chopped cabbage (if you have any or other vegetables like carrot, celery or other firm veggies)

Fill a frying pan half full of water and bring it to a boil. Add the block of tempeh and let it poach 5 minutes.

At the same time, put the water, soya sauce, cornstarch, oil, maple syrup and ginger into the instapot and stir together.

Add the cauliflower and cabbage.

Remove the tempeh from the boiling water and cut into cubes - no smaller than 1/2" or else the tempeh will fall apart in the cooking. Add to the instapot.

Stir everything together. Put on the lid. Set the valve to sealing and press manual. Adjust to high and set the timer for 5 minutes.

When it is done, turn the valve from sealing to venting making sure you don't burn yourself with the steam. Once it has all vented, open the lid, give it a stir and enjoy!

Instapot Mung Bean and Brown Rice Stew

Back again! Been a while but never mind.

I want to try to make meatless meals using our Instapot as much as I can and try to make them as low fat as possible.

If you are on WW purple, this whole pot has 1SP from the oil only. If you are on WW blue, you need to add the brown rice to your SP count.

This recipe is an adaptation from kneadtocook.com.

Mung Bean and Brown Rice Stew

3/4 cup dry mung beans
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala or curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne powder (or to taste)
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp salt
1 bottle tomato passata (675ml or so)
4 cups water

Before starting anything else, put the rice and mung beans into a bowl and cover them with water. You can leave them to soak overnight or all day or 15 minutes. Just as long as they soak a bit first.

Turn the Instapot onto sauté (medium heat) and add the oil. Let it heat and fry the onions until beginning to brown. Add the garlic and fry until aromatic, making sure to stir so that it doesn't burn.

Add all the dry spices and fry them with the onions and garlic. Add the ginger.

When the spices have coated the onions and garlic and are starting to stick to the bottom of the pan, add the full jar of passata. Add some water to the jar (about 5cm) and swirl it around to get all the tomato sauce out of the jar and add it to the pot. Stir and scrape the bottom to get all the spices mixed into the tomato. Stir in the salt. Stir occasionally so that it doesn't stick and let it bubble for about 5 minutes. Press cancel on the Instapot.

Drain the mung beans and rice. Add them to the pot. Add the 4 cups of water and stir it all together, making sure all the rice and beans are stirred into the water and none are stuck on the side of the pot.

Lock the lid on the pot making sure it's set to "sealing". Press manual and increase the time to 15 minutes. Make sure it is on high heat. Leave it to cook.

Once the 15 minutes is done, leave the pot to vent on its own for about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with the side of your choice.