Category Archives: Tempeh & Tofu

Recipe: Easy southwestern tempeh and bean stew

Posted on by
Reply

easy vegetarian southwestern stew

When hubby has a choice of vegetarian protein, he’ll most always choose tempeh over tofu. I think he prefers both the texture and the taste.

I’ve found that tempeh can be a good substitute for chicken in recipes… like this easy vegetarian recipe for southwestern tempeh and bean stew. Cooked in my crock pot, this recipe was as easy as cutting up the tempeh and pouring everything in. I like easy and make no apologies for it!

I usually blanch tempeh before using it in a recipe, which softens it and helps remove some of the bitterness, but I skipped that step this time and couldn’t tell the difference.

We sprinkled crushed tortilla chips on top… yum! Hubby really liked this vegetarian dish, helping himself to two servings!

Easy Southwestern Tempeh and Bean Stew – approx. 6 servings

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 pound tempeh, cut into chunks

1 cup frozen or canned corn

1 cup of your favorite salsa

14 ounces of your favorite vegetarian broth (I used Edward & Sons Not Chick’n)

1 – 4.5 ounce can of chopped green chiles

1 teaspoon cumin

crushed tortilla chips, optional

Place all of the above ingredients into a crock pot and stir until well mixed. Cover and cook on low for about 10 hours or on high for about 5 hours. To serve, spoon into bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Tofu Tuesday: General Tao's Tofu

Posted on by
8

generaltaostofuimaoAt first I felt like I was cheating with this post, since I blogged about this dish previously at my former blog.

But when I went to grab the photo from my former blog, I realized the image no longer existed there since I canceled my account with a certain photo-hosting service awhile ago.  Thankfully, I had uploaded and shared the photo over at vegweb.com, which is where this recipe originated.

Therefore I think it’s completely appropriate to feature this dish again, with photo, because it’s truly one of my absolute favorite tofu meals!!!!!

If you’ve gone vegetarian or vegan and have been craving good Chinese food, this is your answer!  Or if you’d like to introduce an omnivore to tofu in a delicious way, this dish would be a great way to do it.  General Tao’s Tofu is hubby-approved!  He and I both get cravings for this dish.

I will say, the recipe is a bit involved since you have to dip all the tofu chunks in the “egg” mixture and then coat them in cornstarch.  Usually, we hold off on making this meal till the weekends when we’re not rushed.  I’ve also found that preparing the sauce up until the point of heat and having it there, ready to heat, on the stove before you start dipping, coating and frying the tofu can make the whole process go a bit more smoothly.  Just heat up the sauce once you start frying the tofu.  And, I’d definitely follow the advice of the reviewers on vegweb.com and double to sauce…. because it’s sooooo yummy, believe me, you’ll want more sauce around!

When you head over to vegweb.com for the recipe, be sure to peruse all the great photos the site’s users have contributed!  Bring your drool bib! :-D

Tempeh Thursday: Tempeh Sloppy Joes

Posted on by
6

tempehsj01I bet you thought I was joking when I said my hubby wanted me to make more sloppy joes this week.

He was serious!

But rather than make the exact same thing again, I offered to try making them with tempeh instead.  I followed this recipe, using these modifications:

  1. subbed a package of tempeh for the meat
  2. diced a whole green pepper and a whole onion
  3. used minced garlic instead of garlic powder

As we suspected, the ketchup made a huge difference in the taste.  These tasted more like traditional sloppy joes than the tofu ones made with pasta sauce.  Hubby and I both also liked the texture of the tempeh over tofu in this recipe, but he still wants me to make these one more time, using tofu with this ketchup sauce.

———–

Apologies for the quick post… I’m really short on time today but wanted to get this post up for Tempeh Thursday!