Sesame Tempeh Stir Fry

Behold, the power of Tempeh.

One of the benefits of living in Austin, TX is the fact that being vegan isn't all that much of an anomaly.  I now have more vegan/vegetarian friends than meat eaters and even my carnivorous beauties appreciate a good green meal.  Most of the eateries in the area offer a variety of options for different palates and you don't feel like a complete douchebag asking for a gluten-free vegan option unless you're dumb enough to waltz into an Olive Garden.

It didn't really occur to me to count my culinary blessings until I found myself on an airplane to Michigan last week.  Let's just say I'm happy I packed extra Go Raw Live Pumpkin bars.

Do you know what they feed vegans in Michigan?  They don't.  I swear if one more waitress asked me "are you sure you don't want cheese on that?" I was going to go into a long winded rant about what cheese does to my digestive system (it's that kind of sexy talk that lands the hotties, I'll tell ya).

No worries, challenge accepted!

In effort to expand my parent's protein options into the realm of "plant based", I did my best to teach the 'rents how to prep and pamper some Tempeh into a filling and flavorful stir fry.  

Magical Ingredients

1 Brick Tempeh

3T Sesame Oil (1T for marinade, 2T for frying)

2T Rice Wine Vinegar

2T Tamari or Soy Sauce (I went with low sodium Tamari)

Hefty dusting of some kind of spice mix.  The one I used had garlic, pepper, coriander, and a bunch of other shit that I do not recall.  I don't tend to measure, I just let it rain on a dish.

Mixed Peppers (I used 1/2 of a Red and 1/2 of a Yellow Bell Pepper)

1 Medium Sweet Onion

5-7 Cloves Fresh Garlic, chopped

Rice and Green Beans to garnish :-).

Mom put the rice on to cook.  She has always bore the designation of expert rice maker.  Seriously, in all 32 years (33?  Ugh, I can never remember...) of my existence I do not remember her ever f*%!ing up a pot of rice.  Ever.  I guess there is a first for everything :-P (love you Ma).

While the rice was on the stove (sucking :-P), I crumbled the tempeh into a bowl and tossed with 1T sesame oil, the vinegar, tamari, and spice mix.  Covered and allowed it to hang out in the 'fridge whilst I chopped the veg. 

Mom steamed the green beans in a separate pan while I sauteed the tempeh mixture in 2T sesame oil in the wok until it browned up a bit.  Added the veg and garlic in after tempeh browned.  Cooked until the veg started to sweat and the rice was... um... doneish.

The end result was not my best dish ever, but at least it was quick, easy, and super tasty-healthy!