Tempeh & Vegetable Lo-Mein

I've tried 18 new vegetables already this year and its only the 22nd of March ... I'm beginning to get worried that I won't have any left to last me through the rest of the 9 months of this year (LOL), so I've expanded my horizons a little bit and decided to include products other than fresh produce as well.  

Today, I tried something plant-based and although it is somewhat processed, I'm still going to call it New Veggie #19 - Soy Tempeh. Along with tempeh, I used two of my previous new veggies today as well. I used Bok Choy  (New Veggie #11) which I've promised myself I'll always add to my oriental dishes (its awesome!) and I had one small Radicchio (New Veggie #15) left over from the weekend which I wanted to use as well. I overloaded this dish with veggies. Other vegetables to use would be sliced carrots, snow peas, broccoli!! 

Tempeh &Vegetable Lo-Mein

Prep Time: 20 min

Ingredients: 

1. 1 pack (8 oz) Tempeh, cut into thin strips (or grilled chicken)
2. 1 cup spaghetti (boiled, al dente)
3. 1/2 cup Vegetable broth 
4. 4 tbsp Soy sauce
5. 2-3 tbsp Hoisin sauce, or Vegetarian Oyster sauce
6. 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
7. 1 bunch of Bok Choy, sliced
8. 6-8 Green onions, cut off the leafy parts and cut each one in half, length-wise
9. 1 medium Radicchio, sliced
10. salt to taste. 

Directions:

Boil spaghetti and set aside. In a skillet on medium heat, add vegetable broth and add ginger-garlic paste. Allow for the mixture to come to a simmer and mix in both sauces and add strips of tempeh. Cover and allow this to simmer for about 5 minutes. Then add the green onions and allow to cook for a few minutes to get rid of the sulfur pungency. If you like raw onions, you may not need to pre-cook the onions like I did. Then, add the noodles to this sauce and toss well to cover noodles with sauce.  Do a quick taste test, and add more sauces and/or salt to taste. Finally add the bok choy and radicchio, toss well and just as the green (and purples) begin to wilt, turn off the heat and remove the pan from the stove as well. 

Nik's Reaction: He wanted to try the noodles, but was quite full with his own dinner by the time the Lo-Mein was ready. Alex tried a small serving. I think he liked the noodles and veggies but was not a fan of the tempeh (.. AT ALL!! LOL)

My Assessment: I liked the dish overall. This was my first time trying tempeh and, like Alex, I am not an immediate fan.  But I've heard so many people rave about it that I will definitely try it again. :)