Bean pasta

Bean pasta is weirdly good. We've found and tried all sorts - red lentil, pea, soybean... Our favourite, after trying them all, is of course the first one we tried: green soybean fettucine. It's great - has a really interesting, springy texture. This recipe reminded me of it, and to combine green bean pasta with lots of other green things. 

200 g bean pasta
500 g asparagus, cut into 1-2 in long pieces
1 leek, trimmed and chopped
300 g frozen peas
1 pack tempeh, chopped into chunks
4 tbsp olive oil
zest of a lemon
3 tbsp capers
A large handful fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

Boil a large pan of salted water.  Add the bean pasta. When it has about 3 min left add the asparagus, peas, leek and tempeh. Cook until done. Drain and put back in the pot with olive oil, lemon zest, capers, mint and some salt. Taste and eat.

Summer

We made an adventure to Roslindale today - first to the farmers' market, reputed to be the best in town. Where I found this awesome local soy and quinoa tempeh. Then we stopped by our friend S's place, where he showed us the tiny house and the tiny library of German books he built. Onwards through the woods of Stony Brook Reservation to Turtle Pond. Seb spotted this little Chicken of the Woods by the path. We lazed on the dock awhile, then rode down the big hill and along the corridor park back to JP, where ice tea was to be found at Ula. From there, we collected our CSA on the way home, including the first (much anticipated, and suitably sweet) corn of the year.

Apart from the above-described chicken of the woods (which was pale in colour when we found it, but took on a much more distinct chicken of the woods vibrant orange when cooked), corn and tempeh, the above also incorporates spring onions, chilli and garlic from previous CSAs, coriander grown on my roof, South River (Western Mass) chickpea tamari, and a squeeze of lime juice. Such delicious ingredients - this is one of my favourites (pretty much this recipe).

Brown rice, kale, tempeh, sesame and ponzu

I wanted to try ponzu sauce - citrussy, sweet, salty, sounded like something we would like. But they all seemed to contain either HFCS or fish (maybe I should just make my own?). Then I found the Kikkoman Lime one is all clear, and brought some home.

This combination is nothing fancy, but it is really, really good.

1 cup Japanese brown rice cooked in 1 1/2 cups water
~6-8 big leaves kale, washed and shredded
olive oil
1/2 a packet of tempeh, crumbled or ~1 cm dice
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
salt+pepper
ponzu sauce
~2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
sliced avocado (optional)

Put the rice on first. Then blanch the kale in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan, add the tempeh and fry until golden brown. Add the garlic and fry til lightly coloured. Add the blanched kale and stir-fry til warmed through. Season with a little salt and pepper (ponzu is salty - don't add too much salt). Put some rice in a bowl, add kale-garlic-tempeh mixture, ponzu, sesame seeds, avocado if you want, and eat.

Sweetcorn, tempeh, parsley and paprika

As I rode home last night I was thinking about how evocative food is for me - how both cooking and eating can make me feel connected to people, places, or times in the past. Then, as I parked my bike, I thought about my favourite childhood dinner - sweetcorn and cottage cheese pie with paprika and chives - and wondered why I'd never tried to make it. I couldn't really be assed with pie crust last night, and I don't really eat cottage cheese any more. But decided to substitute tempeh and see how it went.

1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 pack soy tempeh
1 1/2 cups frozen sweetcorn, defrosted
~1 tbsp chopped parsley
~1 tbsp chopped chives
~2 tsp paprika
salt+pepper
juice of 1/2 a lime (optional)

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Crumble in the tempeh and stir and fry for a few minutes to heat and brown. Add the sweetcorn, herbs and paprika and fry for a bit longer, until everything is combined and hot. Season to taste, and add lime juice if using.


I liked this. Not sure how accurate it was, but perhaps a little evocative. I didn't add lime juice, but did wonder if it could have used a little acidity. We ate it with cooked tomatilloes, so in this case lime wasn't needed but otherwise might have been nice? S pointed out it is quite similar to my favourite chicken of the woods preparation, which is totally true. It's also true that the tempeh is fairly similar in appearance and especially texture to chicken of the woods, although different in taste - also hadn't occurred to me til he pointed it out.

Brown pasta with tempeh, garlic, sugarsnap peas and mint

S's go-to is pasta with some kind of veg-based sauce. He bought some brown pasta as a special concession to me: I prefer it, he doesn't. Somehow, though, today we both managed to agree that this one is weirdly good. Realised after making it that this combo is also very much inspired by N+G's picnic special pasta salad recipe: tempeh, pasta, peas and mint. The garlic scapes and sugarsnap peas came out of the CSA, and the mint is from the yard. It's the best thing about this time of year: being able to eat superfresh food.

Sufficient brown pasta for two people
water
salt
olive oil
3-4 garlic scapes, chopped
1 small punnet of sugarsnap peas, washed and trimmed
1/2 a block of tempeh, diced
1 tbsp mint, chopped
black pepper

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, then add the pasta and simmer until done (10-20 min depending on variety). Drain.

Meanwhile, heat 1-2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan. Add garlic and fry until softened and starting to colour. Add peas and tempeh and fry until the peas are just tender and the tempeh is lightly golden. Add the mint, and salt+pepper to taste.

Eat the pasta mixed with the pea-tempeh-garlic mixture, and be happy about Summer despite the oppressive heat.

We mixed in some carrot green-lime stuff with some of it, and that was also good, if the above combo isn't exciting enough for you... Also good with finely grated lemon zest, avocado chunks, or grated parmesan, depending on your proclivities.


Open to variations: made some last night as a salad using brown pasta left over from this, pea shoots (from CSA), regular garlic fried with the tempeh, chickpeas, and lemon juice. And coriander instead of mint, although I think mint is better here.

Spinach and tempeh

All of a sudden, I have fallen in love with tempeh. Perhaps a natural progression from my ongoing love affair with miso - bring on the fermented foods?! Next thing I know I will find a passion for stinky tofu and natto (as of now, natto remains the only vegan food I cannot stomach - just the smell is enough to make me put distance between me and it fast)... So anyway, tempeh is awesome. I think the other thing that helped was that I now know more about how it is made (ie those greyish, mycelial-looking bits are OK - just part of the fungal fun). This is a simple way of cooking and eating it, and the taste of the tempeh really comes through.

1 tbsp sunflower oil or similar
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 in piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2/3 of a piece of tempeh
1 bag spinach, washed and picked over
1-2 tbsp chickpea tamari

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a few minutes. Add the sesame seeds and crumble the tempeh into the pan. Stir and fry for several minutes, until the seeds and tempeh are lightly browned and there is no wetness in the pan. Add the spinach and cook until it is wilted. Cook on high for a minute or so to try and evaporate excess liquid (but not long enough for the spinach to become discoloured). Finally, mix in the tamari and taste to make sure it is good.


This is very simple, but came out exactly as I wanted and amazingly tasty: the soft, irony leaves and robust, hearty tempeh are brought together by the salty, tangy tamari, and it adds up to something really good.

Tempeh; carrot+cumin hummus; pasta salad

I can't get to grips with tempeh.  To start with, it looks kind of off even when it's fresh...  I also haven't yet worked out a good way to cook it - the taste and texture often end up a bit odd.

So I saw this recipe and thought 'ah, steaming, maybe that's the secret'.  I tried it last night:

8 oz packet tempeh

2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup veggie broth
2 tablespoons white balsalmic vinegar (used 1 tablespoon regular balsamic)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (used lime juice instead)
1/4 cup fresh thyme, leaves whole, soft stems roughly chopped (used basil instead)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Slice tempeh into 2 squares. Slice the squares sandwich-like into two thin squares. Cut each square into triangles, to make 8 thin triangles.  Steam the pieces for 10 minutes.

Mix the remaining ingredients together in a big bowl. When tempeh is ready, add it to the bowl.  Marinate for 1 to 4 hours, flipping occasionally.

Grill or fry in a pan.  In pan, cook for 10-12 min, turning every so often.  Attached bits of herb are a good thing - they go pleasantly crisp.

Note - the marinade can be re-used:  I pressed some firm tofu while the tempeh was in the marinade, and bunged the tofu in and into the fridge once the tempeh was out.

Hmmmmm.  It's definitely a good way of cooking it.  But ultimately it tastes good because the weird tempeh taste is being masked a bit.  I like the texture of tempeh, I just don't 100% like the taste.  Tempeh is way better than seitan though, seitan is really not very good.  Think they both appeal more to people who miss meat more.


Carrot and cumin hummus

A variation on hummus, merging with carrot spread.

~ 1 cup chickpeas, defrosted
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
small piece garlic
3 smallish carrots
salt+pepper
lump (~50g) of tofu (extra firm silken, as that's what I had open)
juice of ~1/3 lime
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp honey (just to boost the carrots' sweetness)

Grind toasted cumin seeds in spice grinder.  Peel the carrots and steam for ~10 min.  Put all ingredients into blender cup and blend til smooth.  Add water to get desired texture; add seasoning and oil / juice to taste.  Considered adding coriander too - might be good another day - but decided to keep it simple for today.

This came out well - the carroty sweetness and earthy chickpeas balanced out, and the spicy cumin taste finished it off.  The tofu adds a kind of creaminess I think - it's an interesting addition as a texture enhancer.


Pasta salad

S and I have an ongoing disagreement about pasta - in short, he would happily eat it for every meal, I wouldn't (although it's OK once in a while).  This tends to resolve itself in him cooking pasta every time he cooks, and me never cooking it.  There was some leftover pasta (gemelli I think - kinda fancy twists) from one of his escapades, and I thought I would surprise him by making something pasta-based.  This is really so simple it doesn't need a recipe, but it did go down well, so here it is.

1 1/2 cups pre-cooked pasta
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 large 'leaves' raw fennel, chopped
1/4 of a purple pepper, chopped
1/2 an avocado, chopped
6 small radishes, sliced
2 small spring onions, finely sliced
small handful mixed leaves (rocket+lettuce), chopped

handful frozen sweetcorn, defrosted
2 tbsp pumpkin and sunflower seeds, toasted
1-2 tbsp fresh basil, torn into pieces
salt+pepper
olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress

Prepare all ingredients, put in a bowl, with dressing and seasoning to taste, and toss.


Simple and colourful and tasty - nothing fancy but definitely pleasing.  A high proportion of veg for a pasta salad - prob about 50:50.  Lots of room for variation.