Szechuan Tempeh and Green Beans

Monday, March 24

Szechuan Tempeh and Green Beans

Rating: 4.5

I first made this recipe from One Dish Vegan right after we got the book, and loved it. I’m just now figuring out how to cook with tempeh. It’s always kind of befuddled me, and has never really turned out the way I wanted. Still, I wasn’t ready to give up on it, and Seth had been on a bit of a tempeh kick, so I decided to give it another go. I’m really glad I did. This recipe is so crazy easy to make – it’s less than 30 minutes start to finish – and is ridiculously good. It also uses very little oil, so it’s a really healthy alternative to Chinese take-out. The beans are lightly steamed, so they’re still nice and crisp. The tempeh crumbled more than I’d wanted the last time I made this, so I made the cubes bigger this time, but they were  a little too big and I ended up breaking them up in the pan a bit. We served it over basmati rice this time, but brown rice would be really good, too. It’s impossible for us to make any Asian meal without spring rolls, which I buy frozen. This time, I also decided to try some of the gyoza I’d gotten from Trader Joe’s. They were really good, and I made a dipping sauce from tamari, sriracha, sesame oil and a splash of rice vinegar, which we both really enjoyed. If you need a quick, healthy and delicious weeknight dinner, look no further.