Tempeh Spaghetti (Gluten Free!)

Get ready for another good one. If you haven't experimented with tempeh yet, I strongly recommend it. The flavor and texture really resemble ground meat and I love adding it to any "hearty" dishes to give that extra man-friendly meatiness.

Tempeh is a fermented meat alternative that includes organic soybeans, millet, rice and a variety of whole grains. As a staple food in Indonesia used for over 2000 years, tempeh is very high in protein, manganese, copper, phosphorus, vitamin B2 and magnesium. There is also quite a bit of fiber in this product, allowing it to control blood sugar levels and maintain satiety ("feeling of being full"). Just to note, however, that since it is a soy product you may want to limit your consumption of tempeh to 2-3x per week at most if you have elevated estrogen levels or are told by your health provider to limit your soy intake.


Now for the recipe...

Tempeh ("temp- heyy!") Spaghetti

1/2 package of organic brown rice spaghetti
4oz (1/2 package) of 3-grain Tempeh
1/2 C organic pasta sauce (I used tomato and herb)
1T organic tomato paste
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/4 large onion
handful of fresh basil (5-6 leaves)
1t dried oregano
1/2t rosemary
1/2t salt and some ground pepper
1T olive oil

Optional: crumbled goat cheese and a couple dashes of sirracha to garnish. yum.

Directions: Sautee onions and garlic in medium-heat pan with olive oil. Boil water in large pot for pasta. Next, add crumbled tempeh to sautee pan, as well as herbs. Once tempeh is golden, add pasta sauce and tomato paste. Stir until well combined, then add salt/pepper. Strain pasta once cooked and add sauce over pasta w/ cheese and sirracha if desired. Enjoy.

^our basil plant:)

Bon apetit!

Because I Love Indian Food..

So my new roomie Tori (pictured right) and I decided to go out this past weekend to a local Indian restaurant on our "date night". I'm pretty sure the young Indian waiter thought we were on a legit date too.. maybe we just look like a nice couple? Anyway, it was this evening that I rediscovered my love for REAL Indian food, the kind that comes with those free crunchy paper-thin wafers as an appetizer. Since the weather here is starting to get a little chilly (and wet!), there's nothing better than a warm bowl of Indian Aloo Gobhi or Palak Daal. --Don't get too excited, I had to spell check both of those names and let's just say I was a little off.

Whether or not you know how to spell or pronounce these dishes, I strongly suggest you try them sometime or even recreate your own if you're ballsy enough..

Here is my rendition of some type of Indian lentil stew. In fact, I will call it just that.

Molly's Indian Lentil Stew

• 1/2 C mung beans
• 1 C green lentils
• 4 C water w/ bouillon cube or vegetable broth
  
• 1 medium red potato- chopped into cubes
• 1 small red onion-chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic-minced
• 1/2 inch fresh ginger-minced
• 4-5 large kale leaves-torn into small pieces
• juice of 1/2 lemon
  
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 3/4 T cumin
• 1 t turmeric
• 1/2-1 t cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 1 t sea salt

Directions: In a large pot (different from picture below), sautee onion, garlic, ginger and cubed potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil. After a few minutes, add the chopped tomatoes, kale and juice of 1/2 lemon. Stir for a minute or two on medium heat until kale is a bit wilted. Next, add water with bouillon cube or vegetable stock, mung beans, lentils and bring liquid to a boil. Once boiling, add cumin, tumeric, cayenne pepper, salt and reduce heat to simmer (on low) until beans and lentils are cooked through. It took me about 30 mins. Add chopped cilantro as final step.

It may sound complicated, but I promise you'll get the hang of it quick. And if you screw up the order of steps, just keep moving forward and I'm sure it will still turn out delicious. Trust me, I've had plenty of trail errors in my time.

Note: If stew is too thick for your liking, feel free to add some milk (unsweetened coconut would work best) or extra veggie stock to thin it out. If bouillon cubes are not available, you can use just plain H2O but you might have to increase salt and other seasonings to your preference.

This probably is not the most appetizing picture, but I promise it won't matter after you try it. Fo real.

Tips for serving: Drizzle your daily dose of the family sized bottle of Sriracha chili sauce and dollop some plain greek yogurt on top! Yum.

^For those of you who have not crossed that bridge yet.. shame on you

That's all for now! I'll post some more real soon, hang tight!

Cheers