Quinoa with Apricot and Vegetables, Tempeh (No Added Fat)

Tempeh Burger with Peanut, Waterless Broccoli/Spinach/Squash (Almost No Added Fat)

My wife and I like tempeh, but my daughter doesn't and tonight she wasn't eating with us, so I took advantage and made a tempeh dish. In addition, she's not crazy about squash, so I integrated squash into a side dish.

We were getting ready to go to the season finale for Flash Chorus, so I thought I'd make a quick and easy dish. I sauteed thin sheets of tempeh, along with onion and roasted red bell pepper, on a cast iron pan with no oil except for a little bit I rubbed on and then off. I served it on sourdough bread with less than 1/2 t of peanut butter smeared atop (peanut butter is 8g of fat per tablespoon, so this was about 8/6 = 1 1/3 g of fat, which is quite low) and a nice quality Dijon mustard with chablis, plus greens.

I made a waterless side of broccoli, spinach, squash, and jerk seasoning. Tomato slices completed the meal.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Pressure-Cooked Risotto with Peas and Carrots, Air "Fried" Tempeh (or Tofu) (No Added Fat)

I decided to make risotto like I described last May with a 1 to 2 ratio of arborio rice to water pressure cooked for 5m, along with cubes of potato and carrot, plus peas, onion, and garlic. I also prepared tempeh (tofu for my daughter; I had some tofu, too) in the air fryer at 350°F for 4m.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Hemp and Chickpea Tempeh with Broccolini and Cauliflower, Quinoa (Almost No Added Fat)

My wife and daughter are traveling on Friday and I'm teaching tomorrow, so this is my last meal for the family till they return. My wife had picked up some broccolini, which I thought I'd make a mixed vegetable waterless dish out of. I picked up some Hempé brand soy-free hemp seed and chickpea tempeh, which I air fried at 350°F for 4 minutes then 400°F for an additional 2 minutes.

I put, in this order, a little onion, half a head of broccolini chopped into 1/2" pieces, maybe 2 cups of frozen cauliflower florets, 3/4 cup frozen bell pepper slices, and a large baby bok choy, cut into 1" lengths, into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 20 minutes.

I mixed the "fried" tempeh and vegetables, then mixed in 4T of Frontera brand key lime skillet sauce (1g of fat per 2T). I served with sprouted quinoa and some delicious tomatoes.

I don't list this as "no added fat" because the tempeh has 7g of fat per serving, which is a quarter of the package. I used maybe 4/5 of the package; divided by the three of us, we each got about 4/15 or 1/4 of the package, so about 7g of fat. That's still not bad!

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Braised Tofu (or Tempeh) with Bell Pepper, "Cheesy" Riced Broccoli (Almost No Added Fat)

The hurricane is slowly passing us by and finally we had some sunshine today - but also tornado warnings this morning, a lot of rain, and nearby areas experienced flooding. We are lucking out and haven't even lost power, but I'm still focused on bringing down my frozen food inventory.

I recently bought frozen riced broccoli (blanced organic broccoli and salt), and decided to cook it waterlessly (I just put it in my small Saladmaster stock pan, covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 7-10 minutes, really just to defrost and heat up. I made a "cheese" sauce to serve atop the broccoli by blending soaked cashews, water, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, and, for color, a little bit of tomato and red bell pepper.

I mentioned in the recent past about, for me, a new tofu company called Hodo Foods . I bought their braised tofu and used it with dinner as the main course by sauteeing with bell pepper and onion (on cast iron with no oil); my wife doesn't eat tofu as it doesn't agree with her, so her serving was of tempeh instead of tofu.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Air "Fried" Tofu and Tempeh Steaks Coated with Quinoa

I'm excited about our new air fryer, the Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven TOA-60. I got it about a week ago and am impressed by its toasting (even and fast) and baking, with or without convection (it's fast!). I finally wanted to try the air frying function.

I believe that all "air frying" is with this oven is convection baking, maybe with faster air circulation, and with food put in a rectangular basket with holes allowing air circulation. That basket sits atop a baking tray that I put aluminum foil on to make cleanup easier.

For my first try, I was going to make a battered seitan, but my wife forgot to pick up bread crumbs and it turned out that we were out of seitan. How about tofu steaks for kiddo and me, and tempeh ones for my wife?

I have read that quinoa can be a good coating, so made some quinoa. I also bought some frozen French Fries. I put a little canola oil on a paper towel and wiped the basket to help with keeping food from sticking.

The fries were easy. I wanted to buy Cascadian Farms brand French Fries that are coated with a little apple juice to enhance browning without a lot of oil; for example, their crinkle cut fries have 4g of fat per 3 ounce serving. The store I quickly stopped at didn't have these, but they did have Alexia brand organic truffle fries, which I bought. They turned out to indeed be rather oily, with twice as much fat (8g per 3 ounces).

I covered the provided baking pan with foil to ease in cleanup and put the mesh basket, very lightly rubbed with oil, on top of the baking pan. The fries were to be cooked for 425°F for 15m, but I went with 400°F for 12m. They came out great but maybe a bit too crispy; 10-12m at 375°F would probably have sufficed.

Here is what I did for the steaks:

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/4 t salt
• I would have used a bouillon cube, but for some reason the Rapunzel brand cubes I love haven't been available for some weeks now
• 4 ounces tofu for two of us, cut into approx. 1/4" x 1" x 2" pieces
• 2 ounces tempeh for one, cut into approx. 1/4" x 3/4" x 1 1/2" pieces
• (optional) 6-10 half moons of onion (approx 3/8" thick)
• (optional) 1/8 cup frozen or fresh mushroom pieces
• 3T nutritional yeast
• 1t garlic powder or garlic granules

Process

1. I first cooked the quinoa by mixing the water, quinoa, and salt (and bouillon cube or broth, neither of which I had), bringing to a boil, then simmering, uncovered for 2 or 3 minutes.
2. I took the quinoa off the heat and let it stand, covered (or uncovered - it may take a bit longer), for another 7-10 minutes or so till the liquid was fully absorbed and the quinoa took on its characteristic spiral shape.
3. I dredged the tofu, tempeh, onion, and mushroom through the quinoa. The quinoa didn't stick well (in the future, I might try using a vegan "egg" such as Ener-G Egg Replacer, or even, for a savory and sweet flavor, maple syrup, first), so I mostly just patted some quinoa down on top.
4. I air fried for 350°F for only about 7 minutes (I thought it would take longer, but it was done in 7 minutes!) and served.

Results

Wow, we all loved the results of the air fryer. The main course was surprisingly good! It was so easy and came out so crispy and flavorful. My wife and I added hot sauce and my daughter added soy sauce to the steaks. This was a very successful first attempt!

Ideas for the future

 I'd like to try making French Fries from scratch by soaking potatoes for 20m then drying them before air frying them. But the frozen ones, oily though they were, were very good. I bet less oily frozen fries would be great!

My original idea of working with seitan is exciting; I can't wait to try hopefully crispy air fried seitan. I need to make or get some bread crumbs and also consider better sticking of a coating.

Whole Wheat Pearled Couscous with Tempeh and Mixed Vegetables (No Added Fat)

We had a Kindergartener friend over for dinner and I thought I'd make a simple whole wheat pearled couscous meal. The couscous is easily made in a ratio of 1 : 1.5 of couscous to water. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic finely minced
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pearled cousous
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup frozen mixed chopped vegetables
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/4 t salt
• 8 ounce packet of tempeh cut into thin rectangles maybe 3/4" x 1/2" x 1/4"
• 1/8 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes (I used both red and sweet onions)
• 1-2 T coconut aminos (or soy sauce or tamari)
• (optional) 1/2 t dried chives

Process

1. I dry sauteed the garlic for a minute in a large Saladmaster stock pan with no water or any other item.
2. I then added the water and couscous, along with the vegetables, bouillon cube, and salt, and brought to a boil.
3. Once at a boil, I reduced the heat to low and simmered, covered, for 10 minutes.
4. While the couscous was cooking, I sauteed the tempeh and 2/3 of the onion on a cast iron pan with no oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the tempeh was lightly browned (maybe 7-9 minutes).
5. I then put the tempeh and onion into a bowl, and mixed in the remaining raw onion, coconut aminos, and chives, and kept warm in a toaster oven.
6. When the couscous was done, I served with the tempeh; for the children, who may not like tempeh, I served with beans.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Zucchini and Tempeh, Edamame, Baked Potato (No Added Fat)

For Valentine's dinner today, it was just my wife and me, and I decided to cook with zucchini again. I sauteed in a cast iron pan some onion, garlic, zucchini, and tempeh then, once browned, put in a stock pan with spinach and marinara, and simmered on low, covered for 5-6 minutes. I served with shelled edamame (cooked waterlessly) and baked potato (that I had pressure steamed in my Instant Pot pressure cooker.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Jimmy Nardellos Peppers with Tempeh and Mushroom, Guacamole with Greens atop Thin German Bread (No Added Fat)

I picked up some nice looking Jimmy Nardellos peppers at the farmers' market today. I hadn't seen these before but read that they saute well. Here is what I made.


Ingredients

• 8 ounces tempeh cut into thin (app. 1/4" thick) 3/4" squares
• About 10 Jimmy Nardellos peppers, rinsed but with stems intact
• 1 t onion, chopped into 1/4" cubes
• 3 ounces mushroom cut into 1/4" or so slices (I used frozen but either fresh or frozen would be fine)
• 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") chopped
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 t lemon or lime juice

Process

1. I sauteed the tempeh in a cast iron pan that I had put a few drops of oil onto then wiped clean first to leave a small oil residue. I sauteed for maybe 10 minutes on medium - medium-high heat, turning occasionally, till brown, adding the onion and mushroom about halfway through.
2. In another cast iron pan similarly prepared, I sauteed the peppers on medium heat, stirring occasionally, till all peppers had a bit of blackening, about 10 minutes, adding the garlic about halfway through.
3. I mixed the contents of the two pans together, along with the salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

My daughter came up with a good recipe from Ruby Roth's Help Yourself Cookbook for Kids that called for making guacamole (I just mix avocado, lime juice, onion, garlic, and, when I have it, rosemary - I used oregano instead today), then mixing in greens including kale. We did that, along with purple cabbage, and served atop heated thin German bread.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Riced Cauliflower with Tempeh and Brown Rice (No Added Fat)

I have never riced cauliflower and should try it sometime to use in making a delicate dish. However, I found frozen riced cauliflower at Whole Foods Market - what could be easier?! I decided to make a simple cauliflower rice dish.


Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice (uncooked)
• 2 cups water
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 cups riced cauliflower
• 8 ounces tempeh cut into cubes approx. 3/8" in size
• 1t ginger, finely (1/8") diced
• 1/4 cup onion cut into approx. 3/8" cubes

Process

1. I prepared brown rice the normal way by simmering, covered, for 50m the rice and twice as much water, along with the bouillon cube and water.
2. I quickly opened the rice pot when it was done, mixed in the cauliflower, and covered and let stand another 10 minutes till the cauliflower was defrosted and slightly cooked.
3. While the rice was cooking, I prepared the tempeh. I heated on medium high a cast iron pan with a very little bit of oil (maybe 1/4 t), then rubbed the oil off, leaving a light glaze.
4. I added the tempeh, onion, and ginger, and cooked, stirring occasionally, till the tempeh was lightly browned (about 8 minutes).

Results

Dinner came out well! The riced cauliflower had a subtle flavor and the small pieces of tempeh worked out well.

Ideas for the future

I should make a more complex cauliflower rice sometime, like this promising-sounding recipe describes.

Indo-Italian Red Lentil Pasta with Tempeh (No Added Fat)

I have heard of people making curried tomato sauces and found a simple and interesting recipe that I could easily make vegan. It calls for cooking onion, bell pepper, garlic, curry powder, and thyme till vegetables are soft, then adding stewed tomato and simmering for 5m. I thought I'd use fresh tomatoes.

I was thinking of making a rich Indian-Italian inspired tomato sauce and mix in artichoke quarters, but as I got going, I thought that I had a good collection of vegetables and that artichokes wouldn't be properly hilighted. Below is what I came up with.

By the way, a fellow Food for Life instructor, Cathy Katin-Grazzini, shared today a very nice "cheese" sauce recipe that I should try. Her website is a great resource for healthful vegan cooking.

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• 1 medium shallot, finely (1/8-1/4") diced
• 3 spring onions cut into 1/2" lengths
• Medium bell pepper cut into approx. 1/2" squares (about a cup)
• 3 medium shiitake mushrooms cut into thick 3/8" slices
• 2 medium tomatoes cut into 3/8" cubes (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 4T tomato paste
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
• 8 leaves fresh oregano, finely (1/8") minced
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1/2 t garam masala
• 1/4 t ground cumin

Process

1. I put the garlic and shallot into a stainless steel pan and cooked, stirring, on medium high, with no oil or water, for a few minutes till the garlic and shallot was starting to brown.
2. I then added the spring onion, bell pepper, and mushroom, and cooked for two more minutes, stirring.
3. I added the tomato, tomato paste, salt, and black pepper, stirred, and simmered for 15m (or longer), uncovered, on low.
4. I added the remaining spices and oregano, stirred, turned off the heat, and served atop organic red lentil penne, along with tempeh sauteed with no oil on a cast iron pan.

Results

Dinner was good, though my daughter didn't like the sauce. I thought it was a good first try, but I should not have used cumin, the flavor of which wasn't consonant with the rest of the sauce. I knew that it would be a little tricky marrying in a reasonable way very different flavor profiles. I rarely mix Indian spices with Italian herbs.

Ideas for the future

I should try again in making a curry tomato sauce. A pinch of cinnamon may work. I might try cutting the garam masala back and adding a little asafoetida powder, perhaps, as well as a bit of mustard powder. Perhaps a pinch of salt or a tiny bit of maple syrup may work.

Sandwich Bun with Grilled Tempeh (or Tofu) and Vegetables (No Added Fat)

My wife had picked up an interesting looking thin sandwich bun (OneBun Multigrain by Ozery Bakery) that was a bit like an English muffin but that was pre-split to open into two thin halves. I made a simple dinner by putting a little oil on a cast iron pan then wiping the oil off, and grilling tempeh (tofu, in a separate pan, for my daughter), bell pepper, mushroom, and onion. I served the grilled vegetables with mustard, mixed greens, and pickle in the warmed buns. We picked out some huge tomatoes recently, and I served each of us a thick slice from one.

We all enjoyed dinner. I don't usually eat sandwiches for dinner, but this one was good and welcome.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Golden Beet with Spinach and Tempeh, Spicy Tomato Salad (No Added Fat)

Brussels Sprouts were on sale at the cooperative grocery store today, so I decided to try roasting them similarly to what I did for the Valentine's Day dinner. I also included a golden beet, cut into 3/8" cubes. At 450°F, I oven roasted the beet with onion for about 30 minutes and the Brussels Sprouts with onion for about 15 minutes. I did not broil, but removed from the oven; the beet looked and tasted good, so I just sautéed on cast iron the Brussels Sprouts and onion, along with (for my wife and me) tempeh, bell pepper, more onion, and chopped spinach. I added a bit of salt and garlic powder when I served. For my daughter, who doesn't like spinach or tempeh, I left out the spinach and used tofu instead of tempeh.

I also made a tasty tomato salad. I gave my daughter some tasty organic grape tomatoes that we also bought today. For my wife and me, I halved tomatoes, and mixed in chopped green chili pepper, ume plum vinegar, Indian black salt (kala namak), and freshly ground black pepper. I served brown rice, as well.

Results

Dinner was good but the main course wasn't as flavorful as the Valentine's Day one. I thought that the tempeh didn't work as well with this dish as the tofu. I cooked oil-free, as I almost always do; a crispier tempeh may have been better.

Ideas for the future

I am so glad that it's so easy to get roasted and crispy Brussels sprouts without oil, but I should season with more spices like turmeric, lemon pepper (which I'm out of right now), and/or ground cumin, and with other ingredients like garlic or, like I did on Valentine's Day, tomato. I should experiment with it more, perhaps mixing the cooked sprouts into mashed sweet potato. Roasting other vegetable combinations would also be good.

Tofu and Vegetables in Seeded Pita, Basil Peas (Almost No Added Fat)

We have a Lebanese restaurant in the area, Neomonde, whose seeded pita pockets I like. I picked some up yesterday and decided to make a simple sauteed tofu and vegetable dish served in the pita. I sauteed with no added oil on a cast iron pan and, since tofu bothers my wife, made an equivalent dish for her with tempeh instead of tofu.

I also made some peas with basil. All I did was put 2 cups or so of frozen peas in a small Saladmaster stock pan along with 2t frozen chopped basil, and waterlessly cooked for about 10-15m.

Results

Dinner was simple but good. My daughter had a girl her age visiting for the evening - she had never had tofu in her life, but enjoyed the meal. Peas and basil makes a good combination!

Ideas for the future

I don't generally serve or eat sandwiches for dinner, but a pocket sandwich somehow sounds appealing. I should serve these periodically and experiment with a variety of interesting fillings.

Waterless Cauliflower and Chard (No Added Fat)

I found red chard on sale at our coop today; we've not had chard in a while, and I had a head of cauliflower in the refrigerator, so I thought of cooking a chard and cauliflower dish. Preparing it waterlessly (using a quality Saladmaster pan and cooking, covered, on low) sounded good. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 2/3 cup onion cut into approx. 1/4" x 3/4" pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• 5 cups (maybe 2/3 or a bit more of a medium head) cauliflower florets
• approximately 3 cups (packed) greens (I used red chard, but other kinds of chard, kale, or, if you like a bit more "bit", mustard greens could be used instead); I used 5 chard leaves, cut the stems into 1/2" lengths to make up about 3/4 cup, then hand stripped the leaves to approximately 1" pieces (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 t (or to taste) salt
• 1/4 t turmeric
• (optional) 1/4 t garlic powder
• (optional) 1/4 t black sesame seed

Process

1. I put into a large Saladmaster stock pan, in this order, the onion, garlic, cauliflower, greens, salt, and turmeric
2. I turned the heat on to medium high and covered the pan; after a few minutes, the vapor release started jiggling, whereupon I reduced heat to low till the release stopped moving about, and cooked for 20m
3. I then opened the pan, mixed in the garlic powder and sesame seed, and served

I also had some fresh French baguette, and sauteed on a cast iron pan with no oil (I first maybe 1/2 t canola oil on the warming pan for half a minute then wiped the oil off just to get a very light coating on the pan) some tempeh.

Results

Everybody liked dinner! The cauliflower was good but could have cooked just a bit more to be more tender. A little more turmeric would have made the color more vibrant (and, of course, more healthy).

Ideas for the future

While I love pressure cooking, I always also get good results with waterless cooking. I love what the pressure cooker (very soft and, cooked for a few minutes, gravy-like) and waterless cooking (tender) does to cauliflower. I should experiment with more waterless cauliflower dishes - more vegetables like carrots, peas, and green beans would be good. A surprise element like pomegranate kernels would be fun.

Vegetables and Tempeh with Moroccan Simmer Sauce (Almost No Added Fat)

I picked up on sale some nice simmer sauces today, including a Moroccan one. I made a simple vegetable dish of tempeh, broccoli, onion, potato, and carrot cooked with the simmer sauce. The sauce packet claims to serve 7, but I think it's more like 4. Each serving has 1/2 gram of fat, so, even with larger servings, I'll describe this meal as "almost no added fat".

Green Lentil Lasagne, Massaged Kale Salad, Waterless Baby Lima Bean and Bell Peppers

I recently bought a nice looking product, organic green lentil lasagne from Explore Cuisine and decided to make lasagne. These noodles are 50% green lentil flour, and otherwise are made of green pea four and brown rice flour. I like Rao's pasta sauces but have only bought them a few times as they are expensive. They were recently on sale, and I purchased their artichoke sauce. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 8 ounce dry uncooked lasagne noodles
• 2 ounces tempeh cut into thin slices approx. 1/4" x 3" x 3"
• About 20 ounces marinara or other favorite tomato based sauce
• Ingredient 2
• 8 ounces of seitan
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 2 cups onion cut into half moon slices approx. 1/4" x 1 1/4" ( maybe 2/3 of a medium onion)
• 1 1/4 cups carrot cut into 3/8" slices (3 small-medium carrots)

Process

1. In a glass baking dish, I put one noodle down and covered it with ample sauce. I repeated, with less sauce in the middle, and ample sauce again atop. In between two of the top layers I put the tempeh. I reserved three noodles.
2. I cut the reserved noodles in half and made a version of the lasagne for my daughter, skipping the tempeh, which she doesn't like, and using a bit of Daiya brand vegan cheddar "cheese".
3. I baked, covered, in an oven preheated to 400°F oven for 40-45 m, and then served.

I also made a massaged kale salad (kale leaves torn from stems and massaged with lime juice and salt) and waterless baby lima bean and bell pepper (beans and pepper started from frozen) side dish.

Results

The sauce has a little oil in it and weighs in at 6g of fat per serving, with 6 servings in the bottle. I used maybe 5/6 of the bottle, but this served three of us, so contributed about 10g of fat per serving, so I won't claim this to be a no added fat dish, but with typical sauces that I use, it would be.

Ideas for the future

Pending

Cauliflower with Tempeh (Waterless with No Added Fat); Colonial Williamsburg dining and a great find in Richmond, VA

My daughter and I enjoyed two nights at Colonial Williamsburg and returned last night. I'll share some food notes about our trip at the bottom.

For dinner tonight, I thought that I'd use a head of cauliflower. I don't think that I've ever cooked cauliflower waterlessly (in a Saladmaster low temperature stainless steel pan with a vapor release top) before - and ended up with great results. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup onion cut into 1/2" cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• Florets from medium head of cauliflower (5 cups)
• Small bell pepper cut into 3/4" squares (a little over a cup) 
• 4 ounces tempeh cut into 3/8" cubes
• 1/2 t turmeric (or less for a lighter finished color)
• 1/2 t black sesame seed
• 1t fennel seed
• 1/4 t (or to taste) salt
• 1t lemon juice

Process

1. I put, in order, the onion, garlic, cauliflower, bell pepper, and tempeh into a large Saladmaster stock pot.
2. I turned the heat on medium and covered the pan. When I heard the vapor release start to jiggle, indicating steam coming out of the vegetables, I turned the heat down to low to stop the jiggling and cooked for 20m.
3. I mixed in the seasonings and lemon juice, and served with brown rice.

Results

Dinner was surprisingly good; we all enjoyed it. I was impressed with how good waterless cooking of cauliflower turned out, neither soggy nor firm and with flavor intact. The spicing was just right with a little dominance of the fennel taste.

Ideas for the future

I should cook cauliflower waterlessly more often. Other techniques of cooking, except perhaps sauteeing, which I've not done except incidentally when the cauliflower is a minor ingredient in a stir fry, seem to sap cauliflower of much of its mild flavor. A little "heat", such as with pieces of jalapeno, might be nice. Other possible ingredients to incorporate could be citrus zest and cabbage. I could have added the spices before cooking to spread their flavors more, but they came out well added at the end this time.

Food at Colonial Williamsburg, VA

Colonial Williamsburg! We had a great trip, enjoying seeing history come alive. We even met a girl (10 years old?) who loves it there so much that she blogs about it.

We generally enjoy getting at least good if not great vegan food when we're out. Williamsburg was a bit more challenging for us. We were told that all of the on-site restaurants had vegan options, but found that not to be true. For Wednesday's lunch, we stopped at Chowning's Tavern and were surprised to be told that even their vegetable sandwich had cheese built in. We took their recommendation and walked on to another charming restored tavern, Shields. They also had a vegetable sandwich, but were much more accomodating; they don't have cheese already cooked into the spinach (as the first restaurant said) and, though they weren't sure the bread was vegan, could serve grilled (cooked in a pan and not co-mingled with meat on a grill) vegetables with hummus.

The tavern fair was good and it was delightful setting. As we were eating, people dressed in period costumes came through to entertain us. My daughter really wanted to repeat the experience, perhaps at The King's Arms, which staff invited us to. I sure wish that they had more than one dish that they could cobble together. The food itself was good but oily.

I enjoy fine dining and feel that any chef, particularly at a good or excellent restaurant, should easily be able to craft an excellent vegan meal. Of course, I wish that all restaurants had significant vegan selections already on their menus. Fine dining restaurants, I would hope, would have at least one fabulous signature vegan dish.

I made reservations at the Terrace Room inside their beautiful Williamsburg Inn (rooms for approximately $400-600+ a night!!). Looking online, their menu doesn't appear to have a single vegan option. I had called and they assured me that their Chef could make a fine vegan meal. When we arrived, they had a small page of a vegan menu. None of the few items interested my 7-year-old, and the kind Chef said he could try to accomodate our desires. She wanted pasta and guacamole. I went for a quinoa cake and asked that Chef include beans with her pasta - he immediately kindly asked which kind of beans, and we requested black.

Our server brought out good guacamole with fried chips. I asked if the chips were fried with meat, and they were, so were taken back. A few minutes later, the server brought out a great choice, a plate of crispy romaine lettuce. My daughter's pasta was good but oily; it had cubes of carrot along with the beans and looked like it had been cooked in vegetable stock. I liked the small (ditalini?) and chewy pasta tubes. My dish was tasty but, again, a bit too oily.

Overall, we enjoyed our dinner - it's great to get out for fine dining in beautiful surroundings (they had a pianist, as well). The food was good and the staff was accomodating (almost all; one server couldn't understand that we didn't want butter or non-vegan bread), but the food wasn't really up to gourmet standards. We've had great experiences at other fine dining restaurants including at resorts such as the creative and tasty dishes that Disney that are readily available.

We had a poor lunch on our second day. We didn't have enough time for a tavern meal, though we sought the fun atmosphere. We tried Raleigh Tavern Bake Shop which is a quick service "grab and go" place. I was very disappointed that not even the salads were vegan; they had meat and/or cheese. One of the rolls appeared vegan, and we had it. There literally was nothing else there except for potato chips. We bought their fruit salad that had a carton of cow's milk yogurt in it and returned the yogurt so that it might be used. I apologized to my hungry daughter about chips - she's had potato chips rarely if at all, and didn't much like them. I had a Lärabar to help tide her over.

Next time that we visit Colonial Williamsburg, we'll try to arrange things so that we are near Merchants Square just west of the historic district. They have a variety of restaurants that may be good choices (but which I've not explored), such as possibly Aromas World, Seasons, or perhaps pizza at Stephanos Pizza. They also have a farmers' market at times. Further afield in town, I've read that good choices may be had at a variety of restaurants, such as Food for Thought, Istanbul Restaurant, Nawab Indian Cuisine, Lokal, and Chipotle.

All in all, we loved visiting Colonial Williamsburg, but sure wish that it might be a bit more accommodating to healthful whole food plant-based dining. The working class of 18th century Colonial Williamsburg typically ate corn hominy and other grain porridges, as well as simple soups, after all. A growing and significant number of people prefer to order vegan foods when eating out.

The good food news is that on our drive home, we stopped at Ellwood Thompson's in Richmond, VA, about 45m away and enroute home. It is a good grocery store with a fantastic prepared food bar! They have a sandwich bar with some good vegan choices. We ventured into the salad bar area and initially found a good hot bar with maybe half vegan items, a regular cold salad bar almost entirely vegan, and a raw bar with 1 vegetarian and 2 vegan items. Staff drew our attention to yet another hot bar, all (or almost all) vegan! They even had an extensive set of desserts in their bakery, most of which were vegan!

Peachy Broccolini with Tempeh (No Added Fat)

I picked up some organic peaches today; they're in a brown bag ripening. I had the idea of cooking with a peach, and thought it might go along well with some broccolini that I also picked up.


Ingredients

• Medium peach, just yielding to pressure but not yet fully ripe, cut into 3/8" cubes (a cup)
• Medium broccolini (or small broccoli) stalk, stalk cut into 1/2" lengths (about a cup) and remaining florets cut down in length by half (about three cups)
• Clove of garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/4 t salt
• (optional) 1/2 t jerk seasoning
• 4 ounces tempeh cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1 cup onion cut into approx. 1 1/2" x 1/4" half moons

Process

1. I put all the ingredients except the salt, jerk seasoning, tempeh, and onion into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for "zero" minutes - i.e., the machine came up to pressure then turned off.
2. In the meantime, I sauteed in a cast iron pan with no added oil the tempeh and onion. I also made quinoa (1 part quinoa to 2 parts water and a vegan bouillon cube simmered for 2 minutes then left off heat, covered, for about 10 minutes).
3. When the Instant Pot was done, I waited a few minutes, carefully opened it, and mixed in the salt.
4. My daughter doesn't like tempeh, so I served her the broccolini with cubes of tofu, but, for my wife and me, mixed in the tempeh and onion, along with jerk seasoning.

Results

Dinner was good; my wife particularly liked it. The peach flavor was subtle but the peach added nice moisture and a hint of fruitiness.

Ideas for the future

I should experiment with pressure cooking fruits like peach or mango. The combination with spicy flavors seems to work well, and the fruit moderates the heat of spices.

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.