Tempeh Bourgignon

I get emails sent to me from Vegetarian Times with daily recipes. Some of them are great, some…so so. I received one for Tempeh Bourgignon a while back and never thought to make it though it sounded really tasty. I had one of those nights where I couldn’t figure out what to make so I searched through my recipes and came upon this one. I had all of the ingredients except for the shitake mushrooms – so I substitued portobella’s instead. I also served it over quinoa instead of rice.  Just as tasty!!

Tempeh Bourgignon

• 2 cups medium-bodied red wine, such as Pinot Noir
• 1 8-oz. pkg. tempeh, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped (about 1 Tbs.)
• 3 Tbs. olive oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp. herbes de Provence
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbs. tomato paste
• 7 oz. sliced shiitake mushrooms (about 4 cups)
• chopped parsley, for garnish

1. Combine wine, tempeh, onion, carrot, garlic, 1 Tbs. olive oil, herbes de Provence and bay leaf in large bowl. Cover, and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Strain vegetables and tempeh, and reserve wine.
3. Heat remaining oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add tempeh and vegetables, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until tempeh cubes are browned on all sides. Add vinegar, and quickly stir to coat evenly. Add tomato paste, and cook 1 minute. Stir in red wine marinade, scraping bottom of pot to release any stuck brown bits. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes, or until carrots are tender, stirring occasionally. Add water if mixture seems too dry before carrots are fully cooked.
4. Add mushrooms and 3/4 cup water, and simmer 10 minutes, or until tender. Remove bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve over rice.

Raw Curry Nut Salad

This salad is unbelievably filling. Good fat and protein plus Omega 3’s from the walnuts makes it quite good for you too. Plus it tastes yummy hehe.

Raw Curry Nut Salad

1 cup raw almonds

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup raw pecans

1/2 cup raw walnuts

1 red pepper – diced into small pieces

1/4 cup yellow or red onion

2 stalks celery – diced small

Juice of two small lemons

1 tsp of black pepper

1 tbs curry powder

pinch of sea salt

Put all nuts into food processor and pulse a few times until chopped (be careful not to run it too long or the nuts will grind up too much).  Combine with peppers, celery and onion. Add lemon juice and mix together. Add curry powder, salt and pepper. Mix together thoroughly. Enjoy!