Cool or warm, this is an easy tasty dish. Easy being the key thing if you’d rather be soaking up the summer rays than doing things in the kitchen. Who wouldn’t?
I’ve said this lots before – I’m not a tempeh lover. I like it fine, and when restaurants prepare it (correctly) it’s awesome. But yeah. It’s not my number one.
That might all change though. Because I just tried Westsoy’s tempeh and (dare I say it) I could eat this stuff straight up! No cooking necessary!
And before you say it, yes, I always knew there were lots of brands of tempeh, so maybe I should have explored this situation a long time ago. But I really didn’t think they could taste too too different. I’ve always been a Lightlife fan, not for any reason other than their tempeh is organic, but the Co-op doesn’t carry their products. So I grabbed Westsoy. Turns out, it’s also organic and non GMO. Not sure how I missed that, but when I went to read the ingredients list, it says “cultured organic soybean, water, organic white rice”. And that’s it. Good deal.
Here’s what I made. It’s really basic.
Potatoes and tempeh roasted in olive oil for ~35 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Combined with arugula pesto and corn.
Boom!
Let’s make it official.
Tempeh & Potato Pesto Salad [vegan, gluten free, FODMAPs friendly]
Ingredients:
- 1 block (8 oz.) tempeh, cubed
- 5 yukon gold potatoes, cubed
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 cup corn
- 1/3 –1/2 cup arugula pesto
- salt & pepper (to taste)
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cube potatoes and tempeh and toss in olive oil. Bake for ~35 minutes (time may vary depending on the size you cube them).
Once they’re done roasting add to a large bowl with corn and mix. Then add in pesto and stir until all the ingredients are well coated.
This was enough for Kyle and I to both have second helpings. Zero leftovers.
Clean plate bowl club.
I am going to go hardcore following Charles Gant’s 4 R’s routine tomorrow. To protect my son who is nursing from the toxin release I am getting a colonic for the first time tomorrow. Hope it works! I have been good with no wheat but am eating too much sugar,. Totally rationalizing it by eating lactation cookies.
YUM!! I am so excited to try this :). I have never roasted tempeh, but it sounds delicious!
This sounds great. Will definitely make this soon!
Hi Elise! I found your blog when your recipe for enchiladas showed up in my Google search. I have two little ones, still nursing my 16 month old and trying some dairy-free with him so that means me too. I’m not even sure if dairy is his problem as his only “symptoms” are irregular sleep and poor quality stools, nothing else. It is difficult to to decompose the diet of a nursing 16 month old who goes to daycare. Just going dairy-free has been a major struggle because dairy is a major part of most kids’ diets, especially once they are eating outside the home (i.e., childcare, school, birthday parties…). I dearly hope he outgrows it at least so I don’t have to keep restricting when all his friends are having pizza.
I also work part time (pumped while working with both too – not fun but manageable) and it’s taken me a few years to adapt my former slow-cook from scratch approach to my current quick prep from scratch approach that is all I have time for with 2 kids, a job, and a dog. I am very eager to try the baked spaghetti and look forward to seeing more awesome recipes/foods that I can use for my family!
Great blog!
Huh. I am not a fan of tempeh either, but I have never tried West Soy brand. Maybe I should? Although I tried the Tofurky Tempeh Bacon after seeing it on your blog, and I wasn’t much of a fan. Meh. Maybe I just don’t like tempeh? I didn’t dislike the bacon, but I didn’t really like it either. Maybe I should just sub tofu for tempeh where I can…
I hope you are doing well, Elise! P is as cute as ever in the pics in your last post 🙂
Courtney
I am convinced it is an acquire taste, I used to think it was foul and then tolerated it by steaming it and crumbling it into stews. Now I am in love and eat it any which way.
i dunno…hard to say since ive been eating tempeh for over 6 years and still have pretty much the same feelings about it.
hi karen!
your comment is dead on. its hard to sort out the cause of something when there are so many variables. and pumping while working…oof…im just starting work again and NOT loving it one bit. im sure itll get easier with time but its such a pain.
if you have tips to share, please let me know! or any go-to recipes that are semi-home-made and family winners. 🙂
im not a big fan of colonics but ill be curious to hear how it goes for you…good luck w the Rs! ive been doing really well for me, since i used to eat grains and carbs and fruit in abundance. its hard. in their place ive eaten 897034 pounds of nuts. ha!
this looks amazing!
could you ever give a recipe for vegan buttermilk? love to try some!
best you you and your family!
thanks!
Have you had one before? What do you dislike about them? I was always against them but I am desperate at this point.
I have tried tempeh for the first time last week and I am definitely going to explore it further. Mine tasted a bit oily (had sunflower oil in it so not surprising) but so far like it better than tofu! And will be trying your salad for dinner today:)
nope, never had one. the medical side of me just doesnt think it makes sense. an enema for a patient that hasnt had a BM post-surgery is one thing, but the claims made by holistic naturopaths etc about colonics are hard for me to buy. im not against them – some people may swear by them. im just a little skeptical.
interesting, never heard of oil in tempeh before. what brand did you try?
my pumping experiences with my two kids were very different. With my first I was always having these pity parties about pumping, like if my life was perfect then I wouldn’t need to pump, I could nurse round the clock, but still have an interesting job (which I do have), and would have the choice to work at my interesting job (I sort of have a choice, but not really). I tracked my pumping volume in a spreadsheet (bad idea, don’t do it), and felt a bit intimidated about speaking up when I needed to pump, wherever I happened to be. With my second, I had the luxury of experience and more confidence. Women have been working outside the home, or at least have needed to be separated from their nurslings, from the dawn of civilization – there is nothing new, oppressive, or worth lamenting over about me needing to pump while my baby is well cared for and safe with his caregiver (I am a LLL member and they of course have a different view). I stopped devoting negative energy to pumping and viewed it more as I view washing dishes or my 2 minutes with the electric toothbrush each evening – not my favorite part of the day but necessary to keep everything running smoothly. I also was more confident about pumping when I needed to and seeking both permanent and temporary spaces. I have now pumped/expressed in an airplane, random offices, the posh private bathroom that adjoins the executive boardroom at my company, and the bathroom under the south end zone of the Rose Bowl. My sister is a nurse at Children’s San Diego and she and half her unit it seems like have pumped over the last couple years. Having been through and witnessed many nursing challenges, I do think that long term pumping is absolutely the most intense and most difficult nursing challenge, except for maybe long-term thrush. That is awful. The day that I put away the pump for the last time I have a big mental celebration. So be proud of your commitment to yourself, your patients and profession, and your baby. Don’t compare yourself or your experience to anyone else’s – the grass is always greener…
That’s my big pep talk from some random person that you’ve never met! Sorry! But please feel free to email me if you ever wanted to. Pumping/nursing moms really need a solid network of support, wherever they find it.
thanks so much karen. its so good hearing such supportive words from someone who has been through it before. i mean obviously tons of women have done this so i feel lame throwing myself a pity party. but like you said, its good to hear a nice pep talk to give me the extra push to realize its all for the best. its important to me that my boy get my breastmilk and its also important for me to not give up my career, so its what must be done. im sure ill miss it once its over…the good news is that in a few months ill be on night shift and will have days w him again so we can do more nursing than pumping.
since youre a LLL member, what should i do if one breast seems to be not producing as much? i try to pump extra long on it, and he doesnt seem to react differently when hes nursing on it vs the other, but i notice when i pump it yields way less than the other.
The KellyMom website is the best resource for this very common problem.
http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/lopsided/#problem
Is it something that you only started noticing when you started pumping regularly at work? If he seems fine otherwise and has gained weight well, then I would assume that your “good” side has been compensating for the “low” side and not worry about it. Some women nurse off just one breast. You can also try doing hand expression of the weak breast while pumping. Buy a good quality hands free bra if you don’t already have one.
Pumping can really wig you out – how long does letdown take, how much, how much from each side, etc. It’s best to always keep in mind that if the “at the breast” nursing relationship is going well, then don’t look for problems where they don’t exist because with pumping you will always find them.
this is also a good website for giving bottles to a breastfed baby (or any baby really):
http://nurturedchild.ca/index.php/2010/12/10/baby-led-bottle-feeding/
thank you!!
Sort of an aside here, but do you know if you can freeze tempeh before cooking? I bought some on super duper sale but am not going to get to use it before the sell by date. It is Lightlife organic tempeh and I was wondering if I could just throw it in the freezer ‘as is’ to use later. I don’t want to waste it!
thanks
hmmmm…i actually dont know. i know you can freeze tofu but it definitely changes the texture once its thawed. ive frozen seitan before and it was fine, but i dont really know about tempeh. it seems more similar to seitan than tofu in texture so i think it would be okay??
I looked it up at the Lightlife website and this is what it says:
“Our products are at their highest quality when they have not been frozen, but we understand that some consumers prefer to store them in this way to extend the amount of time they have to consume them. Unopened products can be frozen for up to a year if the product is put in the freezer before the “Best by” date. Quality over time will be diminished, especially if they are frozen close to the “Best by” date and the product would not be the same as a freshly bought product. ”
I am going to try it. 🙂
well, mine came all the way from Czech Republic.
that one:) i think it is fried so maybe that’s way its with sunflower oil.
http://www.bioland.sk/sojove-vyrobky-/570-tempeh-smazeny-bio-200g-.html
other than that it only has soy sauce and soya beans:)
lemme know how it goes!
now thats some well traveled food!
I’m always on the lookout for good non-mayo potato salad, this sounds great!
Corn is high in fodmaps….just to clarify for fodmap diet followers. You could probably omit. The fodmap diet ruins everything. 🙁
only certain kinds of corn though. sweet corn has fodmaps but 1/2 an ear of a cob is a safe serving size. i can never remember if white or yellow is the better tolerated one though!
I’m learning more and more from you!!! I thought corn was corn. So what kind of corn did you use in this and other recipes? Do you take the corn off of a cob?