Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Big Salads with Tempeh Bits

Here is another one of my big salad ideas. Every now and then I like to serve big, individual salads for each of us for dinner as our complete meal. To top these salads, I made tempeh bits as a sub for store-bought bacon bits, and I really like the nutty result. The tempeh bits even passed the test with some meat-eatin' friends with kids at a different meal, so that's great! I also like to blanch my broccoli sometimes for salads, instead of serving them completely raw. They seem to go down easier for my blessings that way. So, below I've listed what's in our most recent big salads, including a short recipe for the tempeh bits and also a note on blanching broccoli, if that's new to you. Enjoy!


Big Salads with Tempeh Bits

Ingredients:

2 Hearts of Romaine or one big head of Romaine, chopped small
1 block of tempeh
1 Tbs. canola oil
Garlic salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of chopped broccoli florets
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 bunch of cilantro, leaves chopped
1 can of water-packed and quartered artichoke hearts, drained
2 avocados, quartered and sliced
2 tomatoes, quartered and cut into wedges
1/4 red onion, sliced thin and quartered

Directions:

For the tempeh bits: Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat. Crumble the tempeh into the pan in its individual bits. Sprinkle just a bit of garlic salt and pepper over the tempeh. Cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure you get the tempeh to brown before you are done cooking it. It eliminates any bitter flavor and releases a wonderful, nutty taste. Very good!

For the blanched broccoli: Heat a few cupfuls of water to boiling in a medium pot. Add the broccoli and boil for three minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

For the salad: Use the lettuce as a base on each plate, and add the toppings as desired. Drizzle your favorite salad dressing on top. Eat up! Delicious. Feeds five hungry vegans.

16 comments:

  1. I've only recently discovered the wonders of crumbling and browning tempeh. Love it. Salad sounds great!

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  2. there's nothing better than a scrumptious crispy salad. I had one big one today with freshly made split pea soup and whole grain crackerss. It was delightful.

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  3. Heather, me too! I thought I'd brown it and see what it tasted like, and it was great.

    Millie, sounds yummy! What a delightful meal you had.

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  4. I love great big salads, especially when they involve avocado and chick peas! This sounds great...I'm totally with you on blanching the broccoli for salads...easier on the old jaws! :D

    Crumbled tempeh is my favorite way to eat it. Sounds like a great dinner...I love the post title!

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  5. you had me at;

    "I like to serve big"

    i like to eat big. when do i move in?

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  6. Blessedmama, Veganlovlie left a message for you on my blog concerning the question you had about her Christmas cookies. check it out.

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  7. This sounds so good! Tempeh is (surprisingly) quite difficult to find in Denmark, but I try to stock up whenever I'm in Sweden. Usually I just fry it and eat it on a sandwich, but I'll have to try crumbling it on my salad next time. :)

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  8. Yum...I love big salads, and yours looks so good. I never thought about blanching the broccoli though. I like that idea! :o)

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  9. Hi, Rose - thank you, thank you. I didn't think about the contrasting post title until you pointed it out. Funny.

    Michelle, you can come tomorrow, but with all those fatheads, you're staying in SR's room!

    Thank, Millie, I'll check it out.

    Seglare, I never thought to have it on a sandwich. I'll have to experiment with that. Thanks for the idea.

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  10. Hi, Michelle! You must have commented while I was responding. We crossed...sigh. Blanching broccoli seems to appeal to my kidlets more than simply crunching on raw broccoli, which is good too, by the way. :-) Just a change of pace.

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  11. Awww! You love your blessings so much! I'll bet you would chew up and regurgitate the broccoli for them if need be. So sweet.

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  12. Tempeh bits! Like the sound of it. Do you have to customize your bowls of salad as I do? Embarrassingly, I wasn't sure exactly what blanching was until now...

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  13. Oh, if only they gave me that chance, S.V.!

    Jenny, my children can be picky in their own right, so not all the salads are identical. Don't be embarrassed about the blanching! That's why I put it up there. :-)

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  14. I love beans in my salad, especially butter beans, does that sound weird? I really like the tempeh bits idea!

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