Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Vegan MoFo 3.2: Slow Cooked Tempeh, Roasted Red Pepper and Chanterelles over Brown Rice


Much to my surprise I actually ended up using tempeh in our dinner tonight as I mentioned in the earlier post. This was a bit of shock since I typically can’t plan our meals more than a few minutes ahead. Since the weather has turned cool here I wanted something for dinner that was comfort food. This dish was perfect for a cool evening. Here is what I made:

Slow Cooked Tempeh, Roasted Red Pepper and Chanterelles over Brown Rice
Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 medium or 1 large yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced (will be approximately 2 cups)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 cups fresh or 28 ounces canned peeled diced tomatoes
4 roasted red peppers, cut into strips
12 ounces beer (or you can substitute white wine, veg stock or water)
2 tablespoon paprika
1 ½ teaspoon dill weed (dried)
1 teaspoon caraway seed
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 ounces tempeh, cut into small cubes (I used organic three grain with millet, brown rice and barley)
½ ounce dried chanterelle mushrooms, soaked in 3 cups of water and drained (soaking liquid reserved to add to braising liquid)
½ cup raw cashews
¼ cup dry oatmeal
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, or to taste
2 stalks fresh dill (about 2 tablespoons finely diced)
1 ½ cups brown basmati rice
3 cups water

Directions:

Combine the onions, garlic, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, beer, paprika, dill, caraway, dry mustard, black pepper, tempeh, chanterelles, and the strained soaking liquid from the chanterelles and simmer for at least 30 minutes though longer is fine.

While the veggies and tempeh are simmering cook the brown rice.

When you are almost ready to serve place the raw cashews in your blender with the dry oatmeal. Using a ladle remove at least 2 cups of liquid from the simmering pot and add that to the blender. Process the cashews and oats until smooth. I used a Vitamix for this and it processes the nuts and oats quickly. Pour the cashew and oat mixture into the simmering pot and stir to combine.

Now it is time to taste the mixture and see if you think it needs the red wine vinegar to bring a little spark to the flavor. I added a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. The vinegar does similar things that salt would do to a dish but without the deleterious health impact.

Nutritional Information (for 1/6th of the recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories 387.44
Calories From Fat (21%) - 81.28

Total Fat - 9.71g
Saturated Fat - 1.86g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 27.75mg
Potassium - 824.61mg
Total Carbohydrates - 60.31g
Fiber - 6.03g
Sugar - 6.62g
Protein - 15.32g

Comments:

This dish screams comfort food to me. It tastes much richer than it actually is. The flavor is mild yet complex. The sauce is creamy without being fatty. I think this is the perfect cold weather dish. If you are worried about this tasting like beer it doesn’t. The beer gives the dish a very mild background flavor that my husband was unable to detect what it was. Speaking of beer since some portion of the alcohol evaporated during cooking the calorie count is overstated by that.

Signing out:

We need to get our rest tonight since Binky (aka Nicco) is going to the vet early tomorrow to have his dental work and Dan is flying to Norfolk for the day. Hopefully taking the dry cat food up tonight doesn’t result in an insurrection this evening. Our children tend to get very vocal when their food bowl is low so I can’t imagine what they will do with it missing. Wish up luck getting some rest this evening.

I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday. Talk to you all tomorrow.

26 comments:

  1. That does look delicious, how interesting to add beer. Do you buy a single, or is that a regular occurring in your fridge? I like the oatmeal and cashews, too. I don't know that I've paid close attention to your serving sizes before - I think I would want more than 1/16. I know many people eat more than a serving of (everything) and that you mention you eat from appetizer plates, but that just sounds like so little food. Would you normally eat more, or have an additional side? Just curious.

    When fall starts, I do want warm comfort food, both to warm me up and celebrate turning on the oven again.
    Good luck to Binky tomorrow at the vet!

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  2. Jessica,

    I was thinking German/Austrian which is why I added beer. I bought a 6 pack of beer for cooking in March of 2009 and we still have three left in the wine frig. We are not big beer drinkers. We gave up drinking alcohol by the glass (red Italian wine in our case) for health reasons but sometimes I still want to cook with it for the flavor. Since we don't have it often I don't think it is a big problem. ;-)

    The nutrition is for 1/6th not 1/16th of the recipe. I try to keep dinner light because I feel like I sleep better. In the past I always ate a big dinner and seemed to cause me to toss and turn. But typically I would have a salad or cooked veggies on the side of this. Also I ate all day today. ;-) After the smoothie I had a quart of soup, an apple with nut butter, a banana, and a marinated kale salad with sunflower seeds. After all that I wasn't very hungry for dinner. LOL

    Thanks for sending Binky warm wishes for tomorrow. I am a little worried about the anesthesia but I tend to overreact about medical procedures. I am sure everything will be fine.

    Ali

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  3. Oh, good, I was looking at the slash and my mind worked faster than my eyes. How silly of me, I should have double checked when it seemed weird. Too much blog reading tonight, I guess.

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  4. Jessica,

    I do things like that all the time. ;-) I double checked to make certain it wasn't a typo which always possible with me. LOL

    hope you are having a good evening,
    Ali

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  5. I'm glad you went with the tempeh plan - I have all of these ingredients, and love roasted red pepper.
    Looks and sounds great, I hope to make it soon!

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  6. foodfeud,

    Sounds like we keep similar pantries. ;-) Roasted red peppers are great. I can eat them straight.

    Thanks for the compliment. :-) I hope you like this as much as we did.

    Ali

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  7. Ali, you are killing the MoFo! I really enjoy your posts (I frequently lurk but rarely comment) but you are outdoing yourself. You are awesome!

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  8. That looks so delicious! The colours are amazing.

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  9. Oh this sounds so good. How strong is the caraway flavor. Yep, you guessed, not a caraway fan.

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  10. Jackie,

    Thank you for your kind words. :-)

    Please comment any time. I love knowing people are visiting. ;-)

    Ali

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  11. Jeni,

    Thank you so much! :-) We enjoyed it. I was feeling like I wanted something German inspired last night. Dan will be getting in very late tonight from Norfolk so I have no idea what I am going to make today. :-/

    Ali

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  12. Heather,

    How do I keep finding things you don't like? Sorry about that.

    The caraway is fairly subtle overall since I left if whole but you could eliminate it or grind it and use 1/4 of what I did. The other idea I have is to increase the dill and omit the caraway. I hope my rambling helped. ;-)

    Ali

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  13. This sounds really delicious, and very comforting! Hoping for a speedy recovery for your kitty too :)

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  14. Leianna Two Moons,

    Thanks it was great for a cool rainy evening. Definitely comfort food.

    Thanks for your kind thoughts about Nicco. He is at the vet now and I am wreck. I will be much better once I hear he woke up from anesthesia.

    hope you are a having a good day, and thanks for stopping by,
    Ali

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  15. Sounds wonderful, as always, my dear!

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  16. That looks delicious. I'm intrigued by the oatmeal in the recipe.

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  17. Angel,

    Thanks, I was in the mood for something German inspired last night which doesn't happen often.

    Ali

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  18. Aimee,

    Thanks, you know I appreciate it. :-)

    Ali

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  19. Melo,

    The dry oatmeal gets pureed completely in the blender and serves as a thickener for the sauce. I use it because it adds fiber rather than just straight starch. I have done this for years and it always works. I do use a high speed blender and that may make a difference.

    thanks for stopping by,
    Ali

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  20. That looks and sounds delish!
    I'm feeling that I need something warm and hearty tonight, so I plan on making some kind of soup. I haven't decided what it's going to be yet though.

    I hope Binky does well at the vet!

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  21. Michelle,

    Thanks, we enjoyed it.

    Soup sounds like a great idea. It is cold and rainy here, soup would be perfect for us too.

    I am still waiting anxiously to hear from the vet. I will feel so much better when I know he has come out from under of the anesthesia.

    Ali

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  22. This looks amazingly delicious. I'll have to try making it soon. Are you in Baltimore? I live in Baltimore and have also done the Plant-Based Nutrition class. Glad to have found your blog!

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  23. Megan,

    Thanks, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. It was even better as leftovers.

    I am in Baltimore on the north side near Loyola and Hopkins. Nice to "meet" a local vegan. :-)

    Ali

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  24. Funny just today a friend was asking me about cooking tempeh and I had to admit I've never had success with it. This looks really good!

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  25. Michelle,

    My first few attempts at tempeh were less than stellar too. ;-) I think it needs a big bold sauce or marinade. It also seems to help if you steam it first or slow cook it. Both appear to help it absorb more flavor from the sauce or marinade. I hope that helps.

    Ali

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