Asian Style Sauteed Veggies with Tempeh
Quick and easy to make, these Asian Style Sauteed Veggies with Tempeh explode with flavor, while allowing the vegetables to truly shine and express their beautiful nature.
Sometimes the best dishes are those that get dictated by the content of your fridge! This Asian Style Sauteed Veggies with Tempeh would be one of those dishes… I was feeling particularly uninspired that day, and was way overdue for a trip to the grocery store. But, I had a bunch of vegetables in the fridge that really needed to be used up, and I most definitely didn’t want to throw them away. I hate throwing away food.
When that happens, I usually end up making a huge salad, but this time I was in the mood for something warm and comforting. So, I took everything out and started cooking, taking notes — and pictures — as I went along, just like I used to do back when I started blogging years ago. Just in case the dish would turn out really great and worthy of sharing with you, you know.
Well, guess what? It served me really well: this dish turned out so good, I feel I want to eat nothing but that for the next couple of weeks! It truly is warm and comforting, and it explodes with all kinds of textures and delicious flavors, despite my keeping things very minimalist in the spice department: I wanted the vegetables to have all the place and let their beautiful true essence shine. And that they do, with absolute brio!
Also, I used the vegetables that I had in my fridge that day, but this is a dish that is incredibly versatile. You can just as easily adapt it to use whatever vegetables you happen to have in your fridge in this moment. Just be sure to put them in the appropriate “pile”, i.e. quick cooking vs not so quick cooking, and you’ll be good to go. Likewise, feel free to use tofu instead of tempeh, if that’s where your preference goes.
Just let your imagination soar, and have fun!
First, cut your tempeh into bite size pieces and place it into medium sized container. Add the tamari sauce, sesame oil and sriracha and stir delicately until the pieces of tempeh are all nicely coated. Set that aside to marinate while you prep the rest of your ingredients.
The vegetables are handled in 2 parts because some of them cook much faster than the others… So firstly, you’ll want to slice your onion, carrot, celery and mushrooms and place them together in a plate, or other container of your choice. These guys will go in first because they take the longest to cook.
Then, in another plate, put your diced zucchini, broccoli florets, sugar snap peas, mung beans and chopped green onions. These guys take no time at all to cook, so they will be going in last.
When all your veggies are good and ready to go, heat a few tablespoons of avocado oil in a large frying pan or wok set over high heat. When hot, add the sliced onion, mushrooms, celery and carrots and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp of salt. Saute until softened, fragrant and golden, about 3-4 minutes, then remove the veggies to a large plate.
Place the wok or pan back over the heat source, add a little bit more oil if necessary and then add the tempeh along with its marinade. Cook that for about 1 minute, or until practically all the liquid has evaporated and the tempeh starts to caramelize.
To that, add the mung beans, broccoli, zucchini, sugar snap peas and green onions, as well as another 1/4 tsp of salt. Stir well and continue cooking for another minute or so, until the newly added veggies have softened slightly.
Return the reserved cooked veggies back into the pan and stir delicately to incorporate them well.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in an additional teaspoon of toasted sesame oil and allow the dish to rest for a few minutes, to give all those beautiful flavors a chance to mingle.
Garnish with a pinch of sesame seeds and crushed chili peppers, if desired, and serve with a side of steamed brown basmati rice, or other grain of your choice.
Asian Style Sauteed Veggies with Tempeh
Ingredients
For the tempeh
- 1 8.8oz block of tempeh
- 1/4 cup tamari sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp sriracha
Veggies - Part I
- 2-3 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 6 large mushrooms, sliced
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 1 large carrot, sliced
- 1/4 tsp salt
Veggies - Part II
- 2 cups mung bean sprouts
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1 large zucchini, cut into bite size pieces
- 24 sugar snap peas, cut in half
- 4 green onions, cut into 1" pieces
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Optional garnish
Instructions
- First, cut the tempeh into bite size pieces and place it into a medium sized container. Add the tamari sauce, sesame oil and sriracha and stir delicately until the pieces of tempeh are all well coated. Set that aside to marinate while you prep the rest of your ingredients.
- When all your veggies are good and ready to go, heat a few tablespoons of avocado oil in a large frying pan or wok set over high heat. When hot, add the onion, mushrooms, celery and carrots and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp of salt. Saute until softened, fragrant and golden, about 3-4 minutes, then remove to a large plate.
- Place the pan back over the heat source, add a little bit more oil if necessary and then add the tempeh along with its marinade. Cook for about 1 minute, until practically all the liquid has evaporated and the tempeh starts to caramelize, then add the mung beans, broccoli, zucchini, sugar snap peas and green onions, as well as another 1/4 tsp of salt. Stir well and continue cooking for another minute or so, until the newly added veggies have softened slightly.
- Add the reserved veggies back into the pan and stir delicately to incorporate them.
- Remove from heat, stir in an additional teaspoon of toasted sesame oil and allow to rest for a few minutes, to give the flavors a chance to mingle.
- Garnish with a pinch of sesame seeds and crushed chili peppers, if desired.
- Serve with a side of steamed brown basmati rice, or other grain of your choice.
Nutrition
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
You can also FOLLOW ME on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER for more delicious, healthy recipes!
4 Comments on “Asian Style Sauteed Veggies with Tempeh”
Healthy foodie your recipes are so delicious and more importantly quite satisfyingly filling.Thankyou so very much.
5 star rating love this food
thank you this is awesome
Love this recipe!!