Vegetable Mélange a la Fakin’ Bacon
For the vegetarian and the carnivore. Both will happily eat this…
Everyone knows what an onion and a potato are. But tempeh? Tempeh is a fermented, natural soy product that is high in protein and usable calcium. Traditionally, tempeh is made from whole soybeans fermented with rice or millet wrapped in banana leaves. Made under controlled conditions today, it’s still the fermentation which makes tempeh easy to digest. That said, tempeh will never replace chocolate mousse in the popular mind.
serves 6 | preheat oven to 425 degrees
| ¼ C extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) | 2 Tbsp EVOO |
| 2 C onion red onion wedges | 6 oz package of Light Life smokey tempeh (aka Fakin’ Bacon) strips |
| 4 C potatoes*, bite-sized pieces | 1 C green peas |
| 4 C carrots, sliced | 1 tsp Spike seasoning |
| 4 C string beans cut into 2-inch pieces | 1 tsp black pepper |
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and prepare vegetables. Don’t bother to peel anything. In an oven-proof dish or shallow roasting-type pan, mix the ¼ C EVOO together with onions, potatoes and carrots. Put pan in oven and roast vegetables for 45 minutes, or until potatoes are just about tender. Pull pan out of oven and stir in green beans. Put roasting pan back into oven for another 20-30 minutes.In the meantime, gently heat the additional EVOO in a frying pan. When oil is hot, add the tempeh strips and cook a few minutes per side, or until tempeh is golden brown.
Turn off flame and set frying pan aside. (By the way, it’s fine if the tempeh crumbles because that’s how you want it anyway. What is important is that the tempeh is nice and crispy.)
Remove vegetables from oven. Gently stir in peas, Spike seasoning and black pepper. Stir in ½ the tempeh crumbles. Use the remainder tempeh pieces to garnish the top. *My favorite kind of potatoes for this dish? Buttercream fingerling potatoes! They’re a yellow variety of fingerling that is cute and round.