From the Vitality Food Feature ‘A MEAT-FREE HOLIDAY MENU‘.
This festive dish uses tempeh, which is made from fermented soybeans and has a nutty flavour. It has a higher nutritional content than tofu and is easier to digest. In health food stores, you’ll find tempeh packed into a cake that’s easy to slice and cook with, making it an excellent high protein alternative to meat. (Makes 6 servings.)
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 8 oz organic tempeh, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 cup coarsely chopped fennel
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- 1 cup red seedless grapes, halved
- 1 oranges, peeled and sectioned
- 2 tart apples, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 2 cups spinach leaves, washed
- ½ cup tamari-roasted almonds
- Dressing:
- ½ cup yogurt
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup fresh orange juice (juice of 2 oranges)
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- ½ tsp organic grated orange zest
1) In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat oil. Cook tempeh for 8 minutes, until reddish brown on all sides. Drain.
2) In a large bowl, combine tempeh, fennel, celery, grapes, orange, apples, and cranberries
3) For the dressing: in a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, garlic, orange juice, mustard, and orange zest. Pour over vegetables and toss until coated. Line platter with spinach leaves and place salad on top. Sprinkle with almonds.
Nettie Cronish is a vegetarian and organic foods chef, culinary instructor and cookbook author.
She is the author of 3 cookbooks and co-author of another 3 cookbooks: Nourish: Whole Food Recipes featuring Seeds, Nuts and Beans, Flex Appeal featuring a healthy dinner on the table in 30 minutes, Everyday Flexitarian: Recipes for Vegetarians & Meat Lovers Alike, New Vegetarian Basics, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Being Vegetarian in Canada and Nettie’s Vegetarian Kitchen.
Her 7th cookbook, Fair Trade Ingredients will be published Spring 2021.
For the past 25 years, Nettie has been the resident culinary instructor at The Big Carrot Natural Foods store in Toronto, Canada. For the vegetarian and flexitarian curious, she also gives classes at Nella Cucina, President’s Choice Cooking School (Loblaw’s), The Loft at Longo’s, the LCBO and Nature’s Emporium. She has taught at George Brown College, Calphalon Culinary Centre, Dish Cooking School and Great Cooks on Eight. Nettie also teaches corporate cooking classes and works with dieticians.
Nettie develops and tests recipes for companies and has written articles that have appeared in Chatelaine Magazine, Canadian Living, Food & Drink, Homemakers, Natural Health, Alive Magazine, Vitality, The Globe & Mail and Toronto Star.
Nettie’s cooking philosophy is that “delicious is a pre-requisite for healthy”. As a busy mother of three, she has extensive experience getting dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes.
Nettie Cronish is the past Chair of the Women’s Culinary Network, and a past board member at Fairtrade Canada.