Artichoke Heart, Greens, and Tempeh (waterlessly prepared) over Corn and Quinoa Pagoda Pasta (No Added Fat) [see ingredient note about fat]

I had on hand some interesting looking corn and quinoa pasta in the shape of small pagodas and decided to try a artichoke heart and tempeh pasta dish. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1 cup onion (about 1/3 of a medium onion) cut into 1/4" cubes
• 1 cup frozen chopped greens (I used collards); fresh is fine, as well
• 1 cup artichoke heart halves (I used frozen, but fresh would be fine)
• 6 ounces tempeh cut into 1/2" cubes (I used 6 of the 8 ounces in a package of smoked salt and pepper peanut hemp tempeh and didn't realize till just now that this product doesn't have a trivial amount of fat - it has a whopping 40g per half package; my wife and are sharing the tempeh, so each of our servings is 30g of fat! That's a big surprise and is probably due to the peanuts; we'll have to return to more conventional tempehs which have from none to a few grams of fat. I'll still label this dinner as no added fat because most tempeh choices would indeed be no added fat.)
• 1 cup small grape or cherry tomatoes
• 1t chopped basil (I used frozen)
• 2T capers
• 1/4 t lemon pepper (or black pepper)
• 1/8 t garlic powder

Process

1. I put the onion then greens then artichoke hearts into a large Saladmaster stock pan that I had heated on medium first for a few minutes. The onion immediately started sizzling.
2. I covered the pan and waited a few minutes till the vapor release started rattling, then reduced the heat till the rattling stopped and cooked for 15m.
3. In the meantime, I  sauteed the tempeh on a cast iron pan with no oil till nicely browned on medium heat (about 6 or 7 minutes). I also got the pasta cooking in boiling water.
4. I turned off the stock pot, quickly opened the top to add the tomato and basil, and covered it again, letting it sit for 5 minutes.
5. I mixed in the capers and lemon pepper to the vegetables.
6. After the pasta was done, I drained it and served on the plates.
7. I added the vegetables atop the pasta.
8. I put the tempeh (substituting tofu for tempeh for my daughter, who doesn't like tempeh) on top, followed by a sprinkling of garlic powder.

Results

Dinner was surprisingly good! The pasta didn't need sauce with the tomato and rich ingredients.

Ideas for the future

Though this didn't need sauce, it would be fun to make some sort of cashew cheese sauce or a no-fat vinaigrette and try it with the pasta.