Fruity Quinoa Salad with Tempeh

I know you’re all getting into the autumn thing and eating pumpkin and thinking about taking your jumpers out of the cupboard, but here it’s still roasting hot, so I’m still eating summery food. Salads, things that require as little cooking as possible, there’ll be plenty of stews and baking in due course but for now I have another salad for you. This one is a great mix of sweet and savoury and it’s a complete meal. Both the quinoa and the tempeh contain protein and there are healthy fats in the avocado. The sweetness comes from the dates, the orange and the concentrated apple juice. And the best part is that it all comes together in about half an hour if you don’t count the marinading time.

Tempeh is one of those “weird” ingredients that vegans and vegetarians eat and can seem extremely strange to those of you who aren’t so familiar with vegetable proteins. If I tell you it’s made from fermented soya beans, it probably won’t entice you to try it. But don’t let that put you off. It has an unusual taste, I definitely wouldn’t say it reminds me of meat, it’s more nutty and yes, fermented tasting. It tastes nothing like tofu although it does absorb flavours well. I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t be afraid to give it a try, hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

This post is my entry in Souper Sundays a weekly roundup of blog entries with recipes for soups, salads and sammies. If you want more info visit their page here.

Fruity Quinoa Salad with Tempeh

Preparation Time: 10 minutes                     Servings: 2                                                          Cooking Time:        20 minutes                                                                                                         Total:                         30 minutos

Ingredients:

250g tempeh

Quinoa Bowl:

1/2 cup raw quinoa

1/2 avocado

4 dates

1/2 orange

1/4 salad onion

1 carrot

1 tomato

Salt

Marinade:

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp orange juice

1/2 tsp powdered ginger

1 tbsp concentrated apple juice

1. Mix all the ingredients of the marinade together in a bowl. Slice the tempeh. Place in the bowl with the marinade. Let marinade in the fridge for at least two hours.

2. Put the quinoa in a sieve and rinse under the cold tap. Place in a saucepan. Cover with water. Add a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and boil for about 20 minutes. Drain, rinse under the cold tap and drain again.

3. Take a large bowl. Slice the avocado and add to the bowl. Chop the dates and add to the bowl. Chop the orange, onion and tomato and add to the bowl. Grate the carrot and add to the bowl. Also add the well drained, cool quinoa to the bowl.

4. Take the tempeh out of the fridge. Pan fry until golden on the outside. (Both sides). Put the leftover marinade in the salad bowl and mix everything well. Check to see if you need to add more salt. Place the tempeh on top. Serve.

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