Curried Tempeh Over Rice
Recipe by @ryan.runne
Perfect Rice
Just over 1 cup rice (white or brown)
Just under 2 cups water
2 tbsp butter
2 pinches sea salt
Put water, butter and salt into a covered two-quart pot. Bring to a rolling boil. Add rice. Reduce to simmer. Leave covered. Immediately set timer, 18 minutes for white rice, 28 minutes for brown rice. When timer goes off, remove from heat, leave covered to sit for five minutes. Fluff and serve.
Tempeh:
1 package tempeh
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 ½ tbsp. olive oil
1 ½ tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
seasoning
You can prepare the tempeh however you like. I butterfly the slab (cut the thickness in half), then cut into three strips longwise, and then chop into 1/4 inch bits. I find this size helps to absorb the flavors well and even. You can also cut into cubes, strips, or any other variation.
Heat the oil in a skillet, add garlic and seasoning (usually some mild to spicy red powders — play around or buy some red spice mix — cajun or similar), stir well and allow to cook in the oil for about a minute, add the tempeh. Stir or flip the tempeh as appropriate to cook evenly on all sides. At the sign of lite browning, add vinegar and soy sauce. These amounts may be adjusted to your liking. Continue cooking until all liquid is absorbed, stirring regularly. Cook until crispy if desired.
Curried Vegetables
2 tbsp olive oil
1 ½ tbsp. minced garlic
1 ½ tbsp. minced ginger root
1 ½ tbsp. curry powder
1 can tomato paste
2 cans lite coconut milk
¼ cup plain or greek yogurt
About 2 lbs Veggies of choice
For the sauce, heat the oil in an 8-quart pot. Add garlic, ginger, and curry spices. Add minced hot peppers, or hot pepper powder or flakes here if you like. Cook for a few minutes on medium heat until garlic just begins to brown (be careful not to overcook garlic or it will bitter). Add tomato paste and stir into spices. Add ½ can coconut milk at a time, stirring in well each time. Add yogurt. Allow to simmer.
For Veggies, cut and prep how you like. I usually use onion, broccoli, bell pepper, sweet or white potatoes, squash of any kind, etc. Be creative. Root veggies work great. Put all the veggies together in a covered pot or pan and steam with a ¼ cup of water and a tsp salt just to cook the veggies a bit. The harder veggies (roots) should still be too firm to eat. Transfer the veggies to your simmering sauce and allow to cook until tender. This will make about 6–8 servings and will get better every time you reheat it. Serve with Perfect Rice.
