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. :)

Radicchio & Chanterelle Mushroom Pizza

This is my first posting under my New Veggie Quest which includes 2 new veggies. The honor of being New Vegetable #15 goes to Radicchio and that of being New Vegetable #16 goes to the Chanterelle Mushroom. I intended to only use Radicchio tonight, but the recipe I found on the internet for Radicchio required White truffle oil, which I didn't have on hand and I really wasn't in the mood for a trip to the store. A quick google search for substitutions revealed that I could use fresh truffles (right!! Big eye roll!), or I could substitute with any other type of fresh or dried mushroom with a strong flavor. I had just bought a small 1 oz pack of dried Chanterelle and suddenly, my dinner involved 2 new veggies :)

Radicchio & Chanterelle Mushroom Pizza 

Prep Time: 20 min

Ingredients:

1. One whole wheat Naan (Stone Fire). 
2. 1 tbsp Earth Balance buttery spread
3. 1-2 tsp minced garlic
4. 1 medium sized Radicchio, sliced
5. 1 oz Chanterelle mushrooms, reconstituted.
6. Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F. Melt butter for 10 seconds in microwave and brush half of it on top surface of the naan, then spread minced garlic all over the buttered naan. I used a naan as I already had some at home. You can use a couple of pita-breads or even home-made or store-bought pizza crust.  Place naan on a pizza stone or non-stick pizza sheet in the oven for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, toss sliced radicchio, mushrooms, rest of the butter and salt and pepper. Remove naan from oven and add a generous heap the vegetable mix on top. Return to oven for another 7-10 minutes until radicchio appears wilted, and the crust is nice and crispy. Slice, and enjoy!! 

My Assessment: I really enjoyed dinner today. Li'l Nik stayed about a mile away from my pizza. I enjoyed the slightly bitter taste of the radicchio combined with the earthy mushroom flavor. I've always liked garlic pizza and would rather eat that instead of the red tomato sauce version, which would also work great with this recipe. I also like these mushrooms a lot, but I may be biased where mushrooms are concerned. I love all varieties I've tried in my life. 

Veggie Fact of the Day

Radicchio

Radicchio (Italian Chicory) is a leafy vegetable with white-veined red leaves. It is often confused with the purple cabbage but it actually belongs to Asteraceae, the lettuce, artichoke and sunflower family (Cabbage belongs to Brassicaceae). 

Radicchio have a bittersweet, spicy taste which is supposed to mellow when is grilled or roasted. It has been used in foods since ancient times - Pliny, the Elder wrote of it in Naturalis Historia, and harped about its medicinal properties claiming that it was useful as a blood purifier and as a sleep aid. In fact, radicchio does contains intybin, which is a sedative/analgesic so Pliny had it right all those centuries ago. 

Radicchio also contain very high levels of anthocyanins (duh! They're purple!). Most often, radicchio are used in fresh salads with lettuce and other spring greens.