Tempeh Kabobs

 

I asked my friend Nicole Puritsky if she would like to be a guest contributor to Tempeh Girls. She
came up with this great recipe – we ate it for days! I wanted to use a many local ingredients as possible so that morning I swung by my friend Trish’s house and she handed me a bag and mint and lemons from her garden and the rest I picked up at my local Farmers Market. Even the tempeh is local – it was made by my friends Gunter Pfaffand Betsy Shipley. I realize fresh tempeh is hard to come by but pretty soon it may not be so difficult. I have been part of a team working on TempehSure – a tempeh oven. You can check out more information here www.tempehsure.com. But back to the recipe!

Tempeh Kabob’s served over a bed of Moroccan Quinoa

Servings: 4

Tempeh ingredients:

• 1 (8oz) package tempeh, cut into ½ inch squares
• 12 fresh white mushrooms
• 1 small yellow squash
• 1 small zucchini
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 8 Tablespoons olive oil
• 4 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 4.5 Tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• 3-5 Tablespoons honey (depending on how sweet you’d like the marinade)
• 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 Tablespoon fresh garlic, chopped
• salt & pepper to taste

Cooking Tools:

• 4 Skewers
• Cooking Spray

Tempeh Directions:

• Combine tempeh, mushrooms, squash, zucchini and cherry tomatoes in a large re-sealable plastic bag.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and honey; season with ginger, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour marinade over tempeh and veggies, seal and shake to coat. Refrigerate for a min. of 2 hours, preferably overnight.

1. Preheat grill on medium-high heat or Broil. Spray olive oil or your preferred cooking spray on grill or Broiler tray.
2. Thread tempeh and veggies on skewers. Reserve remaining marinade (to be served with the kabobs).
3. Grill or Broil skewers,
   1. If grilling, turn skewers often to make sure everything is cooked evenly, about 5 minutes
   2. If broiling, broil 6” from heat for approximately 5 minutes or until the marinade is bubbling and the tempeh is browned.

Moroccan Quinoa Ingredients:

• 1 Cup dry quinoa
• 2 Cups vegetable broth
• 1 Cup hot water
• 1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, diced
• ¾ Cup dates, chopped
• 14oz canned garbanzo beans (chick-peas), drained
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• ¼ Cup pine nuts (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh mint, chopped (optional)
• salt & pepper to taste

Cooking Tools:

• Skillet

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and shallot; cook and stir until the shallot has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cumin, ginger and cinnamon. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Add the vegetable broth, hot water and quinoa, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until the quinoa is tender and the liquid has been absorbed, about 25 minutes.

This would be a good time to start prepping the kabobs

1. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and stir in the lemon juice. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Stir in the garbanzo beans, chopped dates, lemon zest, pine nuts and mint- we used lots!