Tempeh De-virginized and some sides

Welcome to Vegan MoFo Day 4 : ) I'm really enjoying this, especially after a dry blogging spell last week.

Since my blogging is really just to motivate me to eat (and it has been working, I'm very happy to say) and to cook (meaning that not only do I eat, I eat healthy homecooked food), I usually don't feel that I have much to share. I'm not a kitchen goddess like some of my fellow bloggers, but I'm a pretty good copycat. I'm just trying to get by until this whole cooking-meals-and-eating-them thing comes naturally.

My system lately is to figure out what I have in the fridge and look up recipes during the day to figure out what sounds good in the evening. I often find lots of yummy recipes that I can't implement due to lack of ingredients. But it's nice to have literally a world of recipe options to try.

Last night's dinner was a success, receiving omni- and vegan-approval. I have never tried tempeh (it looks disgusting like moldy cheese!) but we tried it tonight for the first time per my husband's request.

The meal:

Tempeh and Mushrooms in Tomato Cashew Curry

Cabbage and Russet Potatoes

Wild Rice

Comments:

Curry: The curry recipe is fabulous, and the more things I try from the Vegan Epicurean blog, the more of her recipes I want to try! There are blogs I follow for recipes, and blogs I follow for inspiration, and blogs I follow for information, and from VE I get all three! I did modify a few things only because of limited ingredients:

-I replaced two cups of tomatoes with tomato paste and water

-I replaced the cardamom powder with whole pods as this is what I tend to see in traditional Indian recipes...and they are fun to chew on at the end of the meal (aids digestion)

-I replaced coriander seeds with a 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder, and the ginger root with powder.

Overall, this dish was amazing. Would be better (for me) with only half a lime juice rather than a whole, and if you have a Vita-Mix (I don't) the cashew creme will come out nice and smooth. Mine looked chunky. Still delicious, though! We both really loved this one.

Cabbage: The cabbage was prepared in a very traditional Indian manner. Roast mustard seeds in oil until they pop. Then add cumin seeds and diced green or red chile. Then add one potato (cut very small) and cook until they are browned. Throw a head of cabbage on top of that, and after about five minutes, add asefotida powder, cumin powder, salt and turmeric. When the cabbage is the consistency that you want, take off heat and add chopped cilantro. It's nice to have a dish without onions and garlic once in a while.

Wild Rice: I soaked the rice for a few hours before cooking, and it had a nice flavor. I also added a few fenugreek seeds to the water because I find any excuse to add spices to whatever I'm making.