MENU Mondays: Unbreaded Poppers

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I had some delicious crab-and-cheese-filled jalapeno poppers at a local bar, on Super Bowl Sunday, and it reminded me that there's really no need to bread or batter poppers; you can add hard cheeses, like cheddar or parmesan, or diced mushrooms, and fried, crumbled tempeh, to firm up the filling--usually created with cream cheese or queso fresco base.

Here's a low-fat version from a Spark Recipes contributor, which uses bread crumbs--omit those, and firm up the filling as you like...kitchen almost done for testing of these!

MENU Mondays: Asian Vegan Stir-Fry

This is an adaptation of a vegan, Asian-inflected noodle recipe I used to make--before I stopped eating noodles!  Basically, it's stir-fried vegetables and tempeh with an Asian cashew (or peanut) sauce.

Equipment: Chopping board, chopping knife, large ceramic mixing bowl, wooden spoon, wooden fork, blender or food processor with chopping blade.

Ingredients: 1 cup cubed tempeh, 1 bunch of broccoli, 1 zucchini, 12 oz. of diced mushrooms, 1 cup frozen peas, 1 can water chestnuts, 1 tbsp. oil. Sauce: 1 cup cashews, 3 cloves chopped garlic, 4 tbsp. soy sauce, 3 tbsp. rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp. sesame oil, 1 tbsp. chili paste.

Notes: Make the sauce ingredients together and process in blender or food processor; set aside. Add the oil to the wok or saucepan. Stir fry 1 broccoli bunch, 1 large zucchini, mushrooms and peas; onions--either green or yellow--are optional. Mix vegetables and sauce, and serve.

TIPS Tuesday: Tasty Tempeh Tips--Do More Than Just Crumble It

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I've written about using tempeh to make vegan hash--a kind of breadless stuffing I created to solve the problem of making a stuffing, or dressing, without refined carbs. But, creative cooks are also using tempeh in really interesting ways--one is to make 'mock bacon.' Some cook to do this, others just use in raw form, with spices or marinades.

Matthew Kenney's book, Everyday Raw, offers great ideas for tempeh--a few are here at Raw Simple. More tips can be found at The Kitchn blog. Finally, vegan chefs offer this list of quick takes on tempeh at Carpe Vegan.

SATIATED Saturdays: Breadless Stuffing!

Yes. Finally, we have lift-off! Here is the recipe for my newly-created Breadless Stuffing. Please note: the proportions are mostly 'to taste,' so you will have to play with the measurements.

You will need the following equipment: chopping board; sharp knife; glass medium-sized mixing bowl--or any bowl of your choosing; measuring cups.

You will need the following ingredients:  4 tablespoons butter; 1 apple (I used a Fuji); one bunch of scallions; one package, tempeh (any kind); almond meal; raw oats (as for hot cereal, but plain only); salt; pepper; dill; parsley; mushrooms (optional).

Directions:  Microwave butter in a microwave-safe ceramic ramekin or other container until melted. Chop up apple, scallions (cut off ends) and 1/2 package to whole package of tempeh (depending upon number being fed) into very small quarter-to-half-inch cubes, and place cubes in mixing bowl. Add roughly 1/3 to 1/2 cup almond meal, plus 1-2 cups oats (depending upon number being fed). Add in butter, as well as salt, pepper and dill to taste. Chop up parsley very fine, and add this last. Stir entire mixture vigorously.

Notes: You should have more than enough to fill a large chicken or turkey. You can reserve the rest and either cook in a saucepan, or refrigerate until you are ready to use. This stuff also makes a great potato-free "hash" to go with eggs--simply saute a bit of the stuffing alongside the eggs in a saucepan. For a slightly different flavor, add diced fresh mushrooms (any kind) to the mix.

INFO Thursdays: Tempeh Beats Bread...the Stuff of Strife

The food blogosphere, and indeed, the entire web is replete with meat-substitute articles, mostly featuring tofu. That's not me. This blog is NOT meatless, just sugarless, breadless, and pastaless. (interesting note: Google, which owns Blogger, registers the first two words--meatless, sugarless--as accepted, but underscores the last two as incorrect--needless to say they are 'added to dictionary').

Therefore, I'm always on the lookout for bread substitutes (sugar seems well taken care of by honey, agave and stevia, among many alternatives).  As someone who was probably always pretty hyper-glycemic, bread loaves, croutons, bread-crumbs and the like are avoided. Fortunately, vegan and vegetarian food-substitutes for meat also, often, work well as bread, breading or bread-crumb alternatives.

I'm talking, of course, chiefly about tempeh...but also about items like almond meal and various non-glutinous flours: pure buckwheat and Amaranth come to mind. Flax meal, too. Tempeh is not as well known as that other big substitute, tofu, which is a little odd, given that tempeh is more flavorful than tofu. It's made from fermented soybean, and other grains (a maddening amount of web tempeh descriptions describe it as a 'soybean-only' product, which is simply NOT true). And, with meaty consistency, is often used to conjure that food item. Trader Joe's sells a brand that incorporates soy, barley, rice and millet.

I crumble up tempeh, in place of rice or bread-crumbs, but--and this is important--mostly for savory dishes, not for sweet dishes. In this sense, tofu is the more versatile food-substitute. Tempeh, meanwhile, while being a source of protein much like tofu, also contains B vitamins. There is a frightening paucity of tempeh data, information, recipes and, frankly, product, both on and off the web. (Note to U.S. grain farmers: possible big money in growing tempeh components, and making tempeh starter).

As we progress, I'll be seeking out more recipes that include tempeh--much as my vegetarian chili did from last week. I welcome tempeh links and submissions.

RECIPE Fridays: #4 - Vegetarian Chili

This is a nice spicy, low-fat, very low-refined carbs (is Tempeh a refined carb? Don't think so...If not, then this is a zero-refined-carb recipe) Vegetarian Chili. This is a variation on many, many veggie chili recipes--some of which call for either textured vegetable protein or soy 'meat.' I use Tempeh in place of those items; you could also used diced and sauteed fresh mushrooms.

You will need: 1 cup of water; 1 chicken or vegetable bouillon cube; 1 28 oz. can of Diced, Peeled Tomatoes; 1 15 oz. can of Black Beans; 1 15 oz. of Red Kidney Beans; 1 small onion; about 15 small cubes (half-inch width) of Tempeh; 1 large Red Pepper, diced; spices: cumin, chili power, cayenne, pepper, salt, paprika, Worcestershire sauce. 

Frying Onions, Red Peppers and Tempeh

1. Cut up and fry the Tempeh with a little olive oil and Worcestershire Sauce. Cut up and fry in a separate skillet the Red Pepper and Onions.

2. Take a 4 quart pot, fill with one cup of water and the bouillon cube, bring to a simmer.

3. Add the tomatoes, beans and as much of the spices, to taste, as you like. Continue simmering, while stirring occasionally.

4. Finish frying the tempeh, onion and peppers. Make sure the tempeh, onion and peppers have a tiny bit of char on some of the pieces.

5. Add the tempeh, onion and peppers to the main pot; stir, and let simmer on the lowest possible heat for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.


Turn off heat. Let the chili sit, settle, mingle flavors and congeal a little to reduce the liquid component. It's best if you refrigerate in the same pot overnight, then spoon into a bowl and microwave that on a low setting for three minutes to warm up. Enjoy.

TIPS+COOL SITE Thursdays: Kosher Veggie Chili

Over at glam and glitzy Chowhound, they're huge user base produces some amazing recipes. Here's a Vegetarian Kosher Chili recipe. I am going to make a simplified version for my Friday feature; I just don't quite get why people insist using odd things like Textured Vegetable Protein or Soy Sausage, or Soyrizo (vegetarian Chorizo), when good old Tempeh will do just fine and tastes and looks more like meat when cooked correctly than other mock-meat ever could. Whatev....