Archive: February 2012

Maple Balsamic Tempeh

Another heavy hitter from the Making Love in the Kitchen blog – this is a most delectable way to enjoy tempeh.

Tempeh has a nutty flavour and a chewier texture than tofu, and though it’s gaining popularity in North America, it has been consumed in Indonesia for over 2000 years!

Why you should add tempeh to your rotation:

- It promotes gastrointestinal health – it’s fermented, which means it is a probiotic food and contributes to a healthy gut flora, helping to increase absorption of nutrients and minerals. It’s also high in fiber, which helps keep your colon healthy.

- It has isoflavones – these molecules act like weak estrogens and can help mitigate menopause and PMS symptoms and lower the risk of prostate cancer

- It’s high in protein – and complete protein at that, it contains all the essential amino acids

- The combination of fiber and soy protein helps lower cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar

MAPLE BALSAMIC TEMPEH
from Making Love in the Kitchen

1 package plain tempeh, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp tamari or Braggs soy seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp arrowroot starch

Mix together the balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, tamari, garlic, olive oil, and thyme. Mix in the tempeh cubes, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but up to 24. Mix it occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place marinated tempeh and sauce in a dish and cover with foil. Bake for 40 mins, stirring in the middle.

Remove tempeh cubes from sauce and put the sauce in a pan. Heat on medium for a few minutes, stirring in arrowroot starch to thicken. Pour sauce over tempeh and serve over grains or greens.

+ Erin
P 02/28/2012
t Blog, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Sides, Vegan
9 1 Comment

Quinoa Quiches – Getting creative with quinoa

Okay, so these aren’t your average quiches… In fact, perhaps they aren’t even quiches at all, but they are healthy and delicious, and offer up a unique way to enjoy quinoa with endless flavouring possibilities.

These ones were based on the brainchild of badass nutritionista Meghan Telpner of Making Love in The Kitchen.

They’re packed with veggies and make a tasty side dish. You can swap out the veggies used in this recipe for a different flavour profile. Try peas, spinach, grated potato, and curry powder – or zucchini, roasted tomatoes, peppers, and goat feta – or beets and thyme – so many possibilities!

QUINOA QUICHES
adapted from Making Love in the Kitchen

(makes 8-10 depending on size)

1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
2 tbsp tamari or Braggs soy seasoning
1 tbsp cooking oil (olive, coconut)
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 inch fresh ginger root, grated
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
½ cup frozen peas
1 small sweet potato, grated
1 russet potato, grated
2 eggs
pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 350º F. Bring quinoa to boil in water, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Cut parchment paper into circles to generously line a muffin pan.

Saute onion, garlic and ginger in cooking oil and tamari over medium heat until softened then add celery and carrots and cook for 3 more minutes.

Once the quinoa is cooked, mix in the grated potato and veggies. Add in the eggs, salt, and sesame oil and mix thoroughly. Dole out the mixture into the muffin pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm to the touch, broil for 3-5 mins to crisp up the tops. Remove from oven, allow to cool (or they’ll fall apart). Remove parchment paper and serve.

+ Erin
P 02/27/2012
t Blog, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Sides
9 5 Comments

Replacement Dinner Project – A Fun New Spin On Potlucks

The idea for the Replacement Dinner Project was born of a desire to feed people healthy, whole, mostly plant-based food and educate them about it in a most delicious way. It can be intimidating being invited to a vegan/whole food/plant-based potluck, so I decided to take the nerves out of it for my feasting companions and make the dinner myself… but with a twist – replacement!

I create the menu ahead of time and select certain ingredients that I ask people to bring – to replace the ones I use to cook the dinner.

Folks have to search out the ingredients like sleuths on a scavenger hunt. Or something. I’m sure it’s much more romanticized in my head than in real life. “Think of how exciting it will be, they’ll hunt down the tempeh like pirates”!

There was some tempeh resentment at our first dinner. It seems I had given my guests a real challenge! But who doesn’t love a good challenge?!

Our guests had to scour the town for tempeh, and there were muffled mutters of “this tempeh stuff looks gross”, “how is it any different than tofu?”, and “what is so good about it anyway?”.

Enter Maple Balsamic Tempeh for the win. This stuff is downright delicious.

And of course, there is an educational experience hiding in finding an ingredient you don’t know about or where to get… or eating it in a new way.

The way it works in my head is like this:

1. Send them out to find the ingredient (now they know where to get it)

2. Feed it to the most delicious way you can think of (creativity points count here)

3. Tell them what’s so good about it

Our menu for the first Replacement Dinner Project was packed. with. yum.

Fried Plantain Chips sprinkled with lime and salt

Super-powered Superfood Salad with kale, goji berries, and hemp hearts

Beet Gratin with a trio of beets, Thyme, and Gruyere

Quinoa Quiches with Sweet Almond Chili Green Beans

Maple Balsamic Tempeh over Curried Sprouted Lentils and Sweet Potatoes with a side of Garlicky Beet Greens

Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

We’re gearing up for round 2 in a couple weeks here. I’ve got lots of ideas for foods that some people aren’t up on yet… things like coconut sugar, raw cacao powder, hemp seeds, lotus root, daikon radish, raw cashews, fresh shiitake mushrooms, miso paste, wheat-free tamari, teff, goji berries, the list goes on.

Hopefully my guests will enjoy the scavenger hunt as much as I enjoy putting them through it. At least I can be sure they’ll enjoy dessert!