Artichoke Stem-Squash Soup, Oyster Mushroom Saute

When I was preparing artichokes for steaming yesterday, I cut the stems into small pieces and tossed them into a slow cooker, along with a variety of vegetables like summer squash and carrots, as well as some grains of wheat, a vegan bouillon cube, and water. It served as my wife and father-in-law's lunch. There was enough leftover that I heated it up with some red wine and served that as a side dish.

For the main dish, I sauteed a diced small red onion for a few minutes till the pieces started turning clear, then added about a third of a package of tempeh, cut into small cubes. After five or so minutes, as the tempeh started to brown a bit, I added four or five large clumps of oyster mushrooms, roughly hand cut into half stems. After a few minutes, I added some salt and a bit of Jamaican jerk sauce, as well as a dash or two of tarragon; I would have also added a splash of wine (goes great with mushrooms!), but I skipped that since there was wine in the soup. I served as well some whole wheat bread toast, avocado, and sweet pickled peppers. All enjoyed the meal!