It is day five of my personal vegan challenge.   I fear that I will run out of plant-based meals or become bored with my options.  To prevent my fear from coming to fruition, I am fiercely planning meatless meals.

In addition to reading online articles about vegan diets, I unpacked Russell Simons, The Happy Vegan.   Two years ago I bought the book, but I never finished reading it.  Why I don’t know.

This go around, I am more focused, and I am enjoying the read.

A friend introduced me to tempeh.

Tempeh is funny looking.  Not very appealing to the eye. It is a fermented soy-based vegetarian food that is common in Asia.  Tempeh is reported to elevate hormones levels and trigger breast cell production, so “if you have a history of estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer,” you should talk to your doctor.

Anyways, while I do limit my soy intake, I decided to try it. Of course, I had to put my spin on it.  So without a recipe and using only the package instructions, I made a new and tasty dish.

First I melted Kerrygold butter.   Yes.  I know it’s dairy.  One thing at a time.  Meat first, then dairy.  At least it’s butter from plant fed cows.

Then I added minced garlic and the entire packet of tempeh (cubed).  Instructions said to add soy sauce and cook until golden but to avoid the sodium, I skipped that step. Instead, I added vegetable broth.  Then I tossed in a little red, yellow and orange peppers, 1/2 jalapeno, and then a serving (3 teaspoons) of hemp seeds.

I let it simmer until the tempeh softened and I could split the cubes.  It looked dull, naked, and lacked color, so I added green beans.

The Pot!

My plate!  It was magnificent!

For dinner on Tuesday, I added Lima beans to my spaghetti squash…  Another good one!

But on Tuesday, I also cooked curry and turmeric quinoa.

The ingredients:

1 cup of quinoa
1 Tbs of olive oil
1 medium to large size garlic clove
1 jalapeno pepper
1 regular size can of organic black beans (rinsed)
1 can garbanzo beans (thoroughly rinsed)
1 can of regular or fire roasted diced tomatoes or regular unsalted stewed tomatoes
1 – 1/2 cups of organic low sodium vegetable broth
3-4 Tbs of organic curry (estimate… add until the quinoa turns yellow)
2-3 Tbs of organic turmeric (estimate)

Add olive oil, minced garlic, and jalapeno to saucepan. Soften then combine remaining ingredients. Cook on high for about 5 minutes, then simmer on low for about 15-20 minutes.  If it dries out before the quinoa is soft, add a little more vegetable broth.

Enjoy!!  I found the original Mexican Quinoa on Pinterest at damdelicious.net.
If the curry is a little too much for you, try the Mexican dish.

I am doing okay this week and will continue to search for new recipes.

If you read my post, Why My Son Wants To Help His Grandmother, or This Happened Today then you know my son is trying to help my mom quit smoking.

A quick update.  Tailor continues to convince my mom to walk to the mailbox after dinner, but she is still smoking.  She has talked about smoking fewer cigarettes so only time will tell.  I give him an A for effort.

As I previously wrote, I failed at my first attempt at a vegan diet, but I haven’t given up.  Perhaps two years ago wasn’t the right time for me eliminate all meat from my diet. What I am sure about is that, although I failed once, it doesn’t mean I can’t take another shot at it.  And no.  I am not trying to convince anyone to become vegan, I am merely sharing my journey.  In a future post, I will write more about my decision to give up meat.

Modify. Adapt. Assess. Revaluate. But don’t give up on what’s important to you.