Nutty Tempeh Toss & More

The weather here today is very Spring-like, and it put me in the mood to share these earrings with you, which are very fresh and Springy!


We took Carlos to the river today and he had a blast. He loves the water. I think we're going to start swimming lessons with him soon. I wish I'd had a camera today but I seem to always forget it when I need it most!

I don't think I've mentioned it here before, but I am a founding member of a new Etsy Street Team (basically just a group of Etsy sellers with a common interest who get together to meet new people and promote each other's work) called EtsyVeg. It's an awesome group of vegan and vegetarian artists, and it is growing quickly! We have a blog at www.etsyVeg.blogspot.com and today one of our members, Jeanette of vesselsandwares and vegandish, published an interview of me on the blog. It was a little odd being interviewed, but Jeanette is lots of fun and I can use all the free press I can get, right? :-) You can read the interview here, if you haven't already had your fill of my blabbering here on my own blog.



In addition to my work with EtsyVeg, I've decided that I'd also like to do something on my own to give a little extra promotion to Etsy sellers who are vegan and whose merchandise is 100% vegan, so I'm working on putting together a little section for the sidebar of this blog that will have banners for any vegan Etsy sellers who want to participate. It should be up soon, stay tuned.

Now on to the good stuff - tonight for dinner we had this incredible tempeh dish. If you're not familiar with tempeh, don't fret, it's just another soy product. I think it's made from fermented soybeans, which sounds nasty, but is actually really good, at least if it's prepared right, as it most definitely is in this case! This dish is a favorite of everyone in our family. It's based on a recipe from Cooking Light magazine that originally was not vegan - I think my variation is a big improvement... Enjoy!

Nutty Tempeh Toss

2 tablespoons minced cilantro
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (I use the kind in a jar - I'm lazy)
6 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (or if you only have creamy, throw in a handful of chopped peanuts)
2 teaspoons unrefined sugar
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
2 garlic cloves, chopped (again, I use the kind in the jar - so easy!)

2 teaspoons sesame oil
16 ounces tempeh, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 bunch spinach, washed and roughly chopped
12 ounces soba noodles, cooked according to package instructions

Combine first eight ingredients in a large measuring cup and stir well with a whisk. Heat oil in a large pan and add chopped tempeh. Cook over medium-hight heat until lightly browned (not too long, since it will continue to cook as you add the other ingredients). Add onion and red pepper slices and cook for a couple more minutes. Add spinach and sauce and cook for one or two more minutes, or until spinach begins to wilt. Serve over cooked noodles. Yum!!!