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Sautéed Greens, Brown Rice, and Tempe Served with a Warm Tahini Sauce
I’ve been making this recipe for a while now. The inspiration for this dish came from a little vegetarian/vegan restaurant that I used to work at. They served a very similar dish with sautéed greens, brown rice, a protein, and a sauce. The protein and sauce would vary. For this recipe I chose to use tempe as the main source of protein. If you’re not familiar with tempe, tempe is a soy product similar to tofu yet it is grainer and fermented.
Personally, I avoid commercially made soy because of its negative health effects (more on this in the nutrition section below the recipe), however the traditional process of fermentation neutralizes the harmful goitrogens and phytoestrogens making fermented soy products like tempeh a healthy food (1). For the sauce, I really love a good tahini sauce so I came up with a wonderful savory rich tahini sauce for this dish.
Overall this recipe is flavorful, and adds a nice twist to a basic rice and veggie dish. It’s also a nice balanced meal with lots of veggies, protein, and healthy fats from the tahini. I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
With love from my kitchen to yours,
Kayley
Sautéed Greens, Brown Rice, and Tempe Served with a Warm Tahini Sauce
Pour the rice into a pot, rinse, drain, and add fresh water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Then reduce heat to low, and cook covered for 40 mins, then turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes before removing the lid.
Meanwhile, prepare the tahini sauce. Heat some oil or fat in a small pan over medium high heat. Once hot, sauté garlic slices till golden brown. Combine the garlic with the rest of the ingredients for the tahini sauce in a food processor and process till smooth.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp oil or fat in pan over medium heat. Once hot add onions and stir frequently. After the onions start to appear translucent (a little see through), add the broccoli. Stir frequently. Once the veggies are soft and a few minutes away from being done, add your choice of leaf green (kale, chard, or collards), salt, and a dash of soy sauce.
While the veggies are cooking prepare the tempe. Heat 2 tsp oil or fat in a pan over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the tempe so that none of the strips lay on top of each other. Once the tempe is golden brown on the bottom, flip to cook the other side. Add soy sauce and salt and cook till the other side is golden brown as well. Then transfer tempeh to a plate.
Now that your food is almost done, pour the tahini sauce into a serving flask and place that in a pot with water, bring the water to a boil over high heat to heat the tahini sauce.
Divide the veggies, tempe, and rice between two plates serve with tahini sauce and enjoy!
Ingredients
Nutrition:
|
Ingredients |
Cals |
Fat |
Carbs |
Protein |
|
1/2 cup brown rice |
360 |
0g |
76g |
8g |
|
2 tsp oil |
86.7 |
9.3g |
0g |
0g |
|
1/2 onion (132g) |
57.4 |
0.3g |
13.3g |
1.8g |
|
2 cups broccolini, chopped (244g) |
74 |
1.3g |
14.6g |
4.8g |
|
2 cups kale, chopped (260g) |
72 |
1g |
14.6g |
5g |
|
2” X 3/4” X 1/4” pieces of tempe (161g) |
340 |
10g |
28g |
32g |
|
4 tsp soy sauce |
13.4 |
0g |
0g |
2.7g |
|
6 tbsp tahini |
660 |
60g |
12g |
18g |
|
Total (serves 2) |
1663.5 |
81.9g |
158.5g |
72.3g |
|
1 serving |
831.8 |
41g |
79.3g |
36.2g |
(2, 3, 4)
Notes:
- Traditionally made soy products (like “traditionally brewed soy sauce”) are vastly different than commercially produced soy products. Many modern companies make soy sauce using chemical methods in place of fermentation to save time. Fermentation is key to making soy healthy for consumption. During fermentation goitrogens and phytoestrogens (chemicals that naturally occur in soy) are neutralized by “using the fat- and protein- rich beans as a substrate for microbial action” (1). If these chemicals are not neutralized, they can disrupt thyroid and sex hormone function causing “hypo- and hyperthyroidism, thyroid cancer, and – particularly during infancy or pregnancy – male and female reproductive disorders” (1, 5, 6). For these reasons it is important to buy traditionally made soy products.
- Sprouting rice increases the bioavailability of nutrients. The process of germination increases levels of “levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), magnesium, potassium, and zinc, as well as the phytonutrients ferulic acid and gamma oryzanol” (7). Sprouting also helps decrease anti-nutrients (molecules that bind to nutrients inhibiting their absorption) like phytates, saponins, and lectins (8). You can buy rice that has already been sprouted or you can practice this ancient method yourself.
- How to Sprout Rice:
- “Place ½ cup brown rice in a quart-size sprouting jar or other sprouting container. Fill with water, cover with a sprouting screen or mesh sprouting lid. Soak 12 hours or overnight.
- Drain off water.
- Invert the jar over a bowl at an angle so that the rice will drain and still allow air to circulate.
- After 12 hours of draining, rinse and drain again.
- Repeat rinsing and draining 2-3 times daily.
- Tiny sprouts should begin to form in 2-3 days. At this point, sprouting is complete.
- Drain the sprouts well and transfer to a covered container” (9).
- Nutrition is based on the products I use. I provide a nutrition table so that you can quickly check to see if your food products match or so that you can easily calculate the nutrition for any changes you want to make to the recipe. I think this helps if you have very specific diet goals and/or fitness and/or health goals. I also wanted you to be able to see exactly where I get the numbers for my nutrition facts so that you can see that they are reliable and learn more about macro breakdowns of food.
- I only calculated half the oil because a lot of it sticks to the pan.
Works Cited
1. Shanahan, Catherine. Deep Nutrition. New York: Flat Iron Books. 2016. Print.
2. Nutritionix. Gladson. https://www.nutritionix.com/ Accessed 21 January 2019.
3.”Nutrition Label of Tamari.” San-J. Japan. 2019
4. “Nutrition Label of Tahini.” Woodstock. San Diego, CA. 2019
5. “Soy Sauce.” Science Direct. Accessed 28 October 2019. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/food-science/soy-sauce
6. “The Story and Science of Soy Sauce.” Science Meets Food. 6 June 2019. http://sciencemeetsfood.org/story-science-soy-sauce/
7. Layarda, Sofia. “Sprouted Brown Rice: Health Benefits and How-To.” Health Castle.12 March 2013. https://www.healthcastle.com/sprouted-brown-rice-health-benefits-and-how-to/
8. “Antinutrients.” Nutrients Review. Accessed 21 August 2020. http://www.nutrientsreview.com/antinutrients
9. “How to Sprout Brown Rice.” Culture for Health. Accessed 21 August 2020. https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/sprouting/how-to-sprout-brown-rice/
About Kayley
Kayley is a certified gut health nutrition coach who helps people to overcome their chronic gut and digestive issues at the root using the principles of ancestral nutrition and holistic health. (Continue Reading Here)
