Tempeh Tacos with Spinach, Corn, and Goat Cheese

I love creative combinations for tacos, and this quick recipe from Real Simple fits the bill perfectly. I'm sometimes underwhelmed with the simplicity (aka blandness) of some Real Simple recipes, but a little extra seasoning made this dish flavorful and so easy to pull together! I originally planned to serve this filling in homemade tortillas, but we got caught up shopping on State Street got home later than I expected. I scored TWO Juicy Couture hoodies for a total of $40, though, so I think it was worth sacrificing homemade tortillas this time around. This filling was so good, and Joe and I kept raving about it after each bite. That's a really good sign, isn't it? Imagine how good this would be with fresh corn and homemade tortillas in the summer!

Tempeh Tacos with Spinach, Corn, and Goat Cheese
Adapted from Real Simple Magazine

Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 package tempeh, crumbled
* 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
* 1 teaspoon cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
* kosher salt and black pepper
* 1 10-ounce package frozen corn (2 cups), thawed
* 1 5-ounce package baby spinach (about 6 loosely packed cups)
* 8 small flour tortillas, warmed
* 3/4 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese (3 ounces)
* 3/4 cup store-bought refrigerated salsa

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tofu, chili powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the corn and cook, tossing, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper and toss until wilted.
3. Fill the tortillas with the tofu mixture, goat cheese, and salsa.

If you live anywhere near us, save some effort and buy fresh guacamole from Harvest Time. It is better than I've ever made by myself! Then you can spend that extra time and energy making margaritas! Just make sure to invite me over, ok?

Butternut Squash Baked Pasta

I have been dying to tell you all about this dish for at least a week and a half, but school was more busy than usual and kept me away from blogging more. But this baked pasta is so good I considered blowing off my homework to tell you about it... or maybe blowing off my homework in order to go make more! I was able to talk myself out of it, but I hope you now understand how good this pasta is! It is creamy and silky, almost reminiscent of mac and cheese, but other than the carb overload it's pretty darn healthy. If you like pasta and butternut squash, you will love this.

I added a couple things in order to make this a complete meal. First, I crumbled up tempeh, and added it in as I was finishing up the onions. It added protein, and also a nice nutty flavor. If I haven't' convinced you yet, maybe this will be the dish that inspires you to try tempeh. I also added some spinach, for extra nutrients. It had good flavor, and I wished I had added even more spinach (I happened to have some in my fridge, so it initially went in as part of a fridge cleaning). Also, I didn't feel like going to the grocery store just for three slices of crusty baguette, so I just sliced up some regular wheat sandwich bread. Just as good, and maybe even healthier! This is a satisfying dinner and perfect cold weather comfort food.


Baked Shells with Winter Squash
From Everyday Food by Martha Stewart Living
Serves 4

Butter, for baking dish
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 8 oz package of tempeh, crumbled
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 pound small pasta shells
1 package (12 ounces) frozen winter squash puree, thawed**
4 cups of baby spinach leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 slices crusty baguette, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions; season with salt and pepper. Cover; cook until onions are soft and release liquid, 15 minutes. Uncover; raise heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until onions are browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Add the crumbled tempeh with about 10 minutes of cooking time left for the onions. Stir in 1 teaspoon rosemary.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes less than package instructions suggest. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups cooking water. Return pasta to pot.

Stir squash and reserved pasta water into onions; simmer 2 minutes. Toss squash mixture, the spinach, and 1/2 cup Parmesan with pasta. Transfer to prepared dish.

Combine bread cubes with remaining Parmesan, rosemary, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Top pasta with bread cubes; bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

** Want to make your own squash puree? Take a whole butternut squash, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and roast in the oven. I sprinkled a little salt and pepper on top, and roasted for about 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven. When the squash is very soft, remove from the oven and let cool. Scoop out the squash, and puree in a food processor or blender. It's easy, but make sure you plan the extra time for it to roast!

A Breakthrough: Tempeh Tacos!

Hi everyone! Remember me? Classes started two weeks ago, and as I expected life has become pretty much insane! Not too much cooking, and even less time for recording my cooking stories on here. But I'm not giving up! I've cut out time-sensitive blog commitments (like Daring Bakers), but I am still going to push myself to update my blog whenever I do have a chance. So if you promise not to give up on me, I'll do my best to share my food adventures whenever I have some free time!

This recipe is one I discovered earlier this summer, when Joe and I took a vegetarian cooking class at the Chopping Block. I had experimented with tempeh before, and felt like it was a better texture and flavor then tofu. But I had only though of one main way to use it... cut up cubes, marinate (any flavor works here- asian, italian, bbq), then stir fry it. The tempeh soaks up marinade flavors really well, but I was getting sick of only cooking it one way.

The revelation at our cooking class came when we discovered that tempeh could be crumbled. For some reason I had not though of using it that way, and as soon as I heard the idea I was off and running. Basically, crumbling the tempeh means you could sub it most places where you would use ground meat, adding protein and bulk without using an animal product. AND, for you meat eaters out there, think how easily you could use this knowledge to make a vegetarian friendly meal when you're inviting tree huggers over for dinner. The recipe below is using tempeh in tacos, and think how fun it would be to have a taco bar that included tempeh, ground beef, and shreaded chicken.

The original recipe called for making peach salsa to put on top.
We didn't plan ahead enough to make peach salsa, but that didn't
stop me from chopping up a regular peach to top the tacos. The
sweet fruit was a great complement to the spicy tacos.

And don't worry, I'm not turning into some holier-than-thou veggie eater... I've eaten meat most days this week, mostly because I keep eating leftovers from work and that means lots of varieties of meat! But I have lowered my grocery bill by minimizing the meat we buy, and I hope that our reduction has a teeny, tiny, slight impact on our environment. Not to mention the meat area at my nearby grocery store can smell kind of questionable, and since I don't have a car during the day it's my easiest grocery shopping option!

Public Service Announcement: Wondering where to buy tempeh? They sell it at Whole Foods, and also at Trader Joe's for almost $1 cheaper per package. You'll find it near the tofu and other meat alternatives, usually near the produce department or the cheese & dairy. Give it a try!


Spiced Tempeh Tacos
from The Chopping Block cooking school in Chicago

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, sliced thin
1 red pepper, sliced thin
8 ounces tempeh, crumbled
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp of your favorite Mexican spice blend (I did some cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and a touch of paprika)
2 roma tomatoes, cut in a small dice
1/4 cup cilantro, rough chopped
juice of one lime
salt and pepper, to taste
corn tortillas

Heat a saute pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Saute the onion, red pepper and tempeh, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized. Add the garlic and spices and continue cooking for an additional minute. Add the tomatoes and cook until they start to break down, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and fold in the lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper.

Toast the tortillas over an open flame or in a skillet. Fill with the tempeh mixture, and garnish with peach salsa, sour cream, etc.

Tempeh Stir Fry with Moroccan Cous Cous

If you ever want to show someone that meatless meals can be delicious and satisfying, this is the dish to cook. I'd tried tempeh before, and wasn't thrilled with the results. This dish, however, showed how preparing the same ingredient two different ways can have completely opposite results. I won't tell you about the first tempeh dish I tried, because it would not sell you on trying this vegetarian protein source. This dish of marinated tempeh and vegetables was bursting with flavor, and blended north African and Asian flavors seamlessly.

Are you wondering what tempeh even is? That was my question up until a couple weeks ago. It's a fermented soybean cake, and it is sold in health food stores. Maybe if you're lucky you can find it at your regular grocery store, but I didn't have that much luck. I bought mine at Trader Joe's, and you can also find it at stores like Whole Foods. Tempeh tastes nutty and mushroom like, and has a more firm texture than tofu. I've never been thrilled with the mushy tofu experiences I've had in the past, and think I'll try experimenting with with using tempeh in place of tofu in upcoming dishes. (Like Alton Brown's Bar-B-Fu, which was disgusting. Mushy tofu that was supposed to turn firm enough for sandwiches. Not a good dish at all... but tempeh in it's place might be delish!)

I did tweak this recipe a bit. First, I decided to follow other reviewers advice and skip the skewers. Stir fry worked just as well, and was a lot easier. I also only marinated the tempeh over night. Then, when I got home from work I added the chopped veggies to the marinade, and let it soak for about 45 minutes. I thought mushrooms and eggplant were way too sponge-like to be marinating overnight, and the shorter time seemed to work perfectly. I plan to make this recipe again in the future, and don't think I'd change anything at all.

Tempeh Stir Fry with Moroccan Cous Cous
From allrecipes.com


1 (8 ounce) package tempeh, cut into 1/2 inch squares
16 fresh white mushrooms
1 medium eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
16 cherry tomatoes
8 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt to taste
1 cup dry couscous
3/4 cup raisins (I like golden raisins)
3/4 cup drained canned chick-peas (garbanzo beans)
1 lemon


DIRECTIONS
Place tempeh in a large resealable plastic bag. In a mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and honey; season with 1 tablespoon ginger, 1 tablespoon garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour mixture over tempeh, seal, and shake to coat. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.

45 minutes before cooking, add the mushrooms, eggplant, and red bell pepper to the tempeh mixture. Shake to coat, and marinate another 45 minutes.

Place about 1 tsp of vegetable oil in a wok or large saute pan, and heat on medium high. Using a slotted spoon, remove the tempeh and vegetables from the plastic bag. Add to the saute pan and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until vegetables are cooked. Add the cherry tomatoes for the last minute of cooking.

(Original Kabob recipe-- Preheat grill for medium-high heat. Thread tempeh and veggies on skewers. Reserve remaining marinade. Grill skewers, turning often to make sure everything is cooked evenly. These can also be done in the broiler.)

Meanwhile, combine vegetable stock, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, cumin, and salt. Bring to a light boil. Stir in couscous, raisins, and garbanzo beans; cover, and remove from heat. Let sit for five minutes, or until fluffy. Just before serving, squeeze lemon over couscous and stir. Serve tempeh and vegetables over cous cous, with reserved marinade.