Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Day Seven - "Exciting" food

Today's attempt at culinary prowess of the vegan kind is from PETA's recipe database. It is full of "exciting" words like "tempeh", "kombu", and "braising liquid." And by exciting, I mean "full of potential for error due to my lack of specialty food vocabulary." So here is the quick guide to this recipe:

Tempeh: A soybean cake. Don't worry if I looks a little moldy. Evidently, it just looks like that. Yeah, I know, weird and kind of gross.
Kombu: a dried seaweed used for soup stock. Afterward, it will be squishy and slimey. Like it's fresh from the sea.
Braising: cooking something, usually meat, by boiling it in a liquid

Ok, so once we understand the exciting parts of the recipe it's fairly simple, but time consuming.



Quinoa and Tempeh Tabouli

4 cups vegetable stock
1 piece
kombu
3 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 Tbsp. crushed black peppercorns
1 pkg.
tempeh, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup
quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups chopped cauliflower
1/4 cup diced onion
1/3 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. malt vinegar
1/2-1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste


• Combine the vegetable stock, kombu, minced garlic, chili powder, ginger, and peppercorns in a medium stockpot over medium-low heat to make a braising liquid.
• Add the tempeh and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Put the quinoa in a fine sieve and place under cold running water, gently rubbing with your hands, for a few minutes, until the water runs clear.
• In a small pot, combine the quinoa, water, and 1/2 cup of the prepared braising liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the quinoa is translucent and all the liquid is absorbed.
• In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, tempeh, vegetables, oil, vinegar, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss gently to coat.

Makes 4 to 6 servings


There was one more thing. Quinoa. It probably taste great and stuff, but I just made some couscous instead. Final verdict: pretty good. Could have done with out the raw onion. The tempeh has a nice nutty flavor. I don't know what the kombu did, but I totally braised. Exciting indeed. 

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