Asian Tempeh Lettuce Wraps

After seeing and smelling these in a restaurant, I raced home and created a plant-based version. Success!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 package tempeh

• 1 cup water, for cooking and sautéing

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 onion, diced

• ¼ cup hoisin sauce

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

• 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger (use your microplane if you have one)

• 1 (one) 8-ounce can of whole water chestnuts, drained and diced

• 2 green onions, sliced

• 1 head of butter lettuce

• Salt & pepper to taste

• Optional: 1-2 cups of sautéd mushrooms of your choice

Directions:

1. Fill a medium size pot with enough water to cover tempeh. Bring to a boil, add tempeh and cook for 20 minutes.

2. Heat pan, add 2 tbsp water to sauté garlic and onion (optional: oil). Optional: if using mushrooms, start by cooking them first for a few minutes, then proceed with garlic and onion.

3. Add hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and grated ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes.

4. Add diced chestnuts, mix together.

5. Turn heat off and add green onions, mix.

6. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Grab your beer and Sriracha and dig in while these are hot!

Note: I need more food than this to make a meal for two so we pair this with a sauté of whatever’s in season like snow peas, asparagus or another delicious plant, then add minced garlic, ginger, soy sauce, a bit of brown sugar and roasted sesame seeds.

This was a surprisingly easy one to mimic and make plant-based. The recipe is originally from the rightfully named, Damn Delicious.

Tempeh is fermented soybeans and is not only a whole food - making it healthier than tofu - but the fermentation makes it even healthier making it:

more antimutagenic than its original soybean form. This is important because it means anti-disease.

Mushrooms are technically funghi (not plants), and they can pack even more cancer and disease-fighting power than some plants do. Check out the Chinese Fried Green Beans and Mushrooms recipe for more nutritional info on mushrooms (and a perfect complement to these tempeh wraps).