Meatless Monday: February 13, 2012

Here are two more great vegan recipe, worthy of serving on Valentine’s Day.  I tried to pick ones that would work well with the red pepper soup in my last post.  There are so many great recipes; it is hard to know where to start.  I am currently obsessed with tempeh, since I recently came to terms with the fact that seitan and my GI tract should not mix.  More on the goodness that is seitan later!  Here are two excellent tempeh recipes (for the first recipe you can switch out tofu if your prefer and omit it from the second recipe if you’re not ready to take the plunge).

Orange Pan-glazed Tempeh (from Coming Home to Eat: Wholefood for the Family)
This recipe is equally good made with tofu.  You can make a meal out of this by serving over some quinoa or cooked wheat berries with a bit of chopped kale.

1 cup real orange juice (3-4 large juice oranges)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons tamari (or soy sauce)
1 1/2 tablespoons mirin
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
roughly 10 ounces of tempeh (or extra-firm tofu)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lime
a handful of cilantro (coriander) leaves

Put the orange juice in a small bowl. Squeeze the grated ginger over the bowl to extract the juices, discard the pulp.  Add the tamari, mirin, and maple syrup, ground coriander, and garlic. Mix together and set aside.

Cut the tempeh (or tofu) into thin-ish, bite-sized pieces, and if working with tofu, pat dry with a paper towel. Put the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.

When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the tempeh and fry for 5 minutes, or until golden underneath. Turn and cook the other side for another 5 minutes, or until golden. Pour the orange juice mixture into the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced to a lovely thick glaze. Turn the tempeh once more during this time and spoon the sauce over the tofu from time to time. Serve the tempeh drizzled with any remaining sauce and a squeeze of lime, with the cilantro scattered on top.

Serves 2-4. (Depending on how much you love it, we rarely have leftovers).

Roasted Yellow Beet Salad With Warm Maple Mustard Dressing (from Post Punk Kitchen)
If you can’t find yellow beets, red ones will do.  These are nice, because they don’t make such a mess in your kitchen.  Also I like contrasting a number of colors in each meal.

For the beets:
4 small yellow beets, peeled
Preheat oven to 425 F. Wrap beets in tin foil and roast for an hour. Remove from oven, unwrap and slice when they stop steaming.

For the Smoky Tempeh Croutons: You can also skip these and opt for regular croutons.
8 oz tempeh, diced (1/2 inch to 3/4 inch pieces)
Olive oil or cooking spray

Marinade:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3/4 cups vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Mix all marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Add tempeh pieces and marinade for an hour.

Preheat a large cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Remove tempeh from marinade and saute in a little olive oil or cooking spray. When they’re browned (about 7 minutes) splash in some extra marinade and toss to coat. Remove from heat.

For the Maple Mustard Dressing:
1/4 cup stoneground mustard
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon water

Mix everything together in a bowl. When ready to serve, microwave for 30 seconds or gently heat in a pan over low heat.

Needed to serve:
4 oz baby arugula, or your favorite greens
Sliced red onion

To assemble:
Place the greens in a super large mixing bowl. Drizzle in the dressing and use tongs to coat. The greens will wilt slightly.

Transfer salads to 4 plates (or two, if you’re looking for entree-sized salads). Place slice beets snugly against the greens. Scatter on tempeh croutons and a few slices of sliced red onion.

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I'll be back late in the week to talk about my free home energy audit from Duke Energy.  Until then you can check out more cold weather tips on the Piedmont Environmental Alliance Green Guide... here.