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Tempeh Tacos

INGREDIENTS: 

2 cans of black beans

1 can (12 oz) tomatillos

1/2 pkg taco seasoning

1/2 can (3.5 oz) salsa verde

1/2 onion

3.5 oz tempeh

1/2 c water

 

 

corn/flour tortillas

sour cream

cheese

lettuce

tomatoes

 

 

 

 

yield of filling: 4 cups

Tempeh, like tofu, is made from soy beans. However, tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins. I love the nuttiness of tempeh, it took a while to get used to the texture of it because I was so used to tofu, but now I prefer temeph over tofu.

You can get dry beans and soak them overnight, and then cook them in boiling water if you have the time. Sometimes though I just have to take the short cut and get canned beans. I'm a busy mom, when kids are hungry you don't really have 2 hours to cook soaked beans. But if you're cooking the night before, by all means, go for cooking your own beans.

Today... we're using canned beans.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of you might not know the best way to dice an onion, below is a slide show showing you step by step.

In 2 T of oil, I like grapeseed, start to cook your onions. Make sure your pan is hot before throwing in the onions. Cook until they begin to caramelize.

As your onions are cooking you can cut up the tempeh. Sometimes when you open up a package of tempeh you'll notice that it has black and white "spots". That is Rhizophus oligosprorus, a mold used to ferment tempeh and bind the beans together. If you notice any mold that's any other color, don't eat it, that means it has gone bad.

First cut the tempeh into strips and then cut into smaller pieces. You can also crumble it.

Cut tempeh.

Add the tempeh to the onions.

Sauté until the tempeh begins to take on a little darker color. It really brings out the nuttiness when you cook the tempeh prior to adding any sauce.

Add salsa verde. Depending on how you handle heat to a dish you may want to add only half of the salsa verde at first, if it's not too spicy you can add the rest.

Stir the salsa into the onions and tempeh.

Strain and rinse beans.

Add the beans to the mixture of onions and tempeh. Lower cooking temperature to low.

Puree the tomatillos with a hand blender.

Add pureed tomatillos to the bean mixture.

Then add taco seasoning.

Give everything a stir and then add 1/2 c of water.

Cover and set timer for 10 minutes.

You'll end up with about 4 cups of filling. This freezes well, so whatever you don't use right away you can save for later. Just make sure it has completely cooled before you freeze it. Also make sure the comtainer is air tight, you'll be able to taste if it gets freezer burned.

I like to top my tacos with some sour cream, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and avocados. You can easily leave the dairy out of this meal to make it vegan-friendly.

 

For these tacos I like to use a corn/flour blend for the tortillas. They have great corn flavor, but don't dry out like corn tortillas. If you're going the gluten-free route though use corn tortillas.

Click through the slide show to see how I top the tortilla.

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