braised greens // golden raisins + smokey tempeh
Every Holiday table should include at least one "green" dish; for us some years it may be
maple cider glazed brussel sprouts,
a fall harvest salad or green bean casserole. Growing up the standard green on my Gram's Thanksgiving table were your plain old green beans, for Easter; asparagus from a can. As I mentioned in my
stuffing post we didn't often stray from our traditional family menu. On our Thanksgiving menu you will always find the standard Thanksgiving must haves; traditional mashed potatoes, farm house rolls and assorted pies, but you will also find at least one "experimental' dish, if good enough a dish that may find its way onto the Holiday menu must have's list.
This dish is super easy to prepare just prior to dinner or can be made a few hours in advance and served at room temp. Multiple greens or your single favorite green can be used; I love the combination of baby spinach, arugula and bok choy. The smokey tempeh paired with golden raisins gives you the perfect balance of savory and sweet.
The tempeh and hemp seeds also lends a boost added nutrition to an already nutritionally sound Thanksgiving side; a side that I might add won't make you feel heavy or weighted down like so many Thanksgiving dishes tend to do. It also has the added bonus of being gluten free so long as you use a gluten free Tamari or vegan Worcestershire sauce.
If you have a friend or family member coming to your Holiday Dinner that loves to help in the Kitchen, this is the perfect dish to put them in charge of; very little prep, easy to execute in a small amount of time. Put them to work while you pour yourself (and your guest) another glass of champagne or local hard cider. For us Farnum Hills Extra Dry Hard Apple Cider is a must on our Thanksgiving table; locally made and incredibly good.
Do you prefer to host Thanksgiving or be a guest?
What is your favorite part of the Holiday? For me (besides family) it is the leftovers the next day! Speaking of leftovers, you could totally pile on a serving of these greens onto your day after gobbler sammie.
Did anyone read the Thanksgiving Editors Letter in Bon Appetite; I loved reading about how they disagreed on the start of time of Dinner and how everyone's family traditions differed from one another. One that I found particularly amusing was the start of dinner; our family always enjoyed Thanksgiving Dinner between 1pm-2pm; when I met Justin he could not understand why we called it Dinner; wasn't it lunch! eating earlier simply means you are ready for the second waive aka 1st round of leftovers at 5pm.
What time do you consider Thanksgiving Dinner to be or any Holiday meal for that matter?
Braised Greens with Golden Raisins & Smokey Tempeh
serves 4 as a side, easily doubled
you will need:
1 tsp coconut oil
2 garlic cloves minced
2 medium shallots sliced
1/2 package of tempeh (4oz)- cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp Siracha or hot sauce of choice
1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce or tamari
1/4 cup of water
2 cups arugula
5 cups baby spinach
2 baby bok choy, ends removed and roughly chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins or 2 tbsp diced dried plums
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp hemp seeds
assembly:
In a large Saute pan heat coconut oil over medium - high heat, saute garlic and shallots for 2 minutes. Add tempeh , liquid smoke, hot sauce, tamari/ vegan Worcestershire sauce and water to the pan. Cooked until sauce has been reduced to half and tempeh is golden, about 2-3 minutes.
Add greens (10-12 cups worth) stir greens until wilted, cover if needed. Add golden raisins or diced dried plums along with apple cider vinegar and stir until greens, raisins and apple cider vinegar are well combined.
Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with hemp seeds.
Serve immediately or at room temp.
Enjoy!
I love the smokey tempeh in here! Such a fabulous recipe :)
ReplyDeleteI love smoky day and just about everything
DeleteMmmmm smoky tempeh. Cannot go wrong with that :)
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how you say a holiday table need one green dish- I swear until I went vegetarian, our family's table did not! Unless you count that sad excuse for a salad iceberg lettuce thing my grandma would put on the table because she felt she had to. Things have certainly changed! I love the look of this, especially since it has protein in it- could almost be my main dish :)
It sounds like our holiday tables growing up are very similar think goodness times of changed
DeleteI love reading about other familys' holiday traditions too! I read in a magazine recently that the majority of people eat their Thanksgiving meal earlier in the day, which was surprising to me because we've always had ours at our normal dinner time...besides, we usually need the full day just to get all the cooking done on time!
ReplyDeleteMe too I'm glad other people enjoy a meeting as well I always love looking into other peoples traditions are so much fun
DeleteSmokey tempeh? That is completely different but I am loving it in this recipe :D
ReplyDeleteCheers
CCU
Totally different oh so good
DeleteOoh, that smokey tempeh sounds divine! What a great way to add flavor to the greens!
ReplyDeleteWe're always the guests at Thanksgiving (we travel to visit our families - his first, then mine for a post-Thanksgiving celebration). I think we normally do "dinner" sometime between 1-3, which is definitely too early to call it dinner... but as you said, it means there's time to make room for seconds before the day is done, so I'm all for it! It's kind of like the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings -- they have breakfast, and second breakfast, and elevensies -- Thanksgiving is a little like that, only in the second half of the day. :P