Thursday, April 8, 2010

Scrumptious Simple Suppers


Tempeh and Vegetable Stir-Fry from 1,000 Vegan Recipes

Another simple yet amazingly good recipe from 1,000 Vegan Recipes. Tempeh and Vegetable Stir-Fry (page 295) hooked me in when I searched the index for something with red peppers and broccoli (the veggies I had in the refrigerator at the time). The recipe looked too simple and we do a lot of wing it stir-fries so I don't really need a recipe, but I thought I'd try it out. I was blown away. While cooking, I was a little worried it wasn't enough to fill my hungry crew, but it was a perfect amount for our family of five. Seriously, simple and very good. Even Rob was impressed. I served it over brown rice with peaches from the freezer.
Here is a picture of a standard stir fry in the wok (brown rice, carrots, onions, garlic, broccoli,peppers, chickpeas, tofu). We make a lot of meals like this right now. We are busy and loving the longer warmer days so dinner has to be quick and nutritious and then we are back outside.
One of the secrets to quick scrumptious meals without a lot of time in the kitchen is "go to" sauces. Thai Peanut Sauce and Coconut-Peanut Sauce from 1,000 Vegan Recipes are two of our favorites. In this picture I used almond butter instead of peanut butter (we like to alternate our nut butters for diversity, nothing against peanut butter) in the Coconut-Peanut Sauce and served it over a bed of garlicky greens, brown rice, tofu, and carrots. Seriously satisfying, seriously simple, seriously scrumptious. We could all eat like this every day. Just mix up the sauces (not feeling like a nut? go for a tasty tahini sauce), add different veggies, quinoa instead of brown rice, and gobs of greens and you have something totally different, but the concept is the same...quick, easy, good!
Here is a picture of collards with vegan sausages. This time they are store bought. The co-op had a sale on Field Roast (the best vegan sausages on the market if you ask me) so I couldn't resist. I know, I know homemade are easy, better tasting, and cheaper (for people living under a rock who haven't made their own, check out Julie Hasson's recipe, Vegan Dad's recipe, or Fat Free Vegan's recipe to just name a few.) See also brown rice with peas topped with Esme sauce (or our version of it, but it will forever be Esme sauce in our house) and walnuts.

Now I'm off to saute some greens, cook a grain, chop up some veggies, and pour on the sauce!

1 comment:

Babette said...

Your stir-fries look amazing. I don't know why, but I have trouble making stir-fries without following instructions. They are usually bland or they taste too much like tamari.

I have been successful though with Vive le Vegan's Stir Fry Vegetables with Spicy Almond Sauce.