This is my entry for Hive top chef where the theme this week is healthy foods. This is perfect for me. I happened to want to incorporate some healthier foods into my diet especially salads. We are being threatened soon with supply chain problems among other things so I will store up some good stuff while I can.
For the grilled tempeh I use an organic tempeh from a company I used to work at and made it for a while when I was there. I always boil or steam my tempeh before I grill it. I wanted some flavor to seep into it before grilling, so I boiled it in a shallow pan with some vegetable broth. I flipped it after it boiled then cooked it on lower heat until the liquid evaporated.
I chose random items that were in the fridge to mix together to brush on before grilling.
Sauce to brush tempeh
3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Juice of a lime
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
The only way for me to grill is my electric grill which does a great job. After brushing each side with the sauce I put it on the grill when it was really hot. It doesn't take long since it was precooked.
After flipping it a couple times to get nice grill marks, it was ready to go on the salad which was already prepped.
To add to the salad for extra bulk, I added raw zucchini. I got out my spiralizer that I never use. I found it in a thrift shop last year, so I thought I would have some fun with it.
Aside from zucchini I added several other basic items. Some of them were cucumber, red pepper, carrots, cabbage and onion.
The mango dressing was made with soaked cashews. I already had some soaked from another day but I bought more to have in case they run out. It's one of the things I always like to have in the cupboard even though they cost a fortune. The mango was purchased a few days ago when I saw them 2 for a buck in the markdown bin. They were perfect and sweet.
Creamy Mango dressing
1 mango roughly chopped
2 or 3 cups soaked cashews
1 small piece ginger around 1/2 inch
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1/8 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Pepper to your liking
Sea salt to taste
Blend until smooth
After lining the plates with mixed greens I topped with the salad items.
In addition I added cherry tomatoes,and ground cherries which are my new favorite find. I don't know what other names they have but these are sweet tangy and juicy.
On top I added some pomegranate seeds from a pomegranate that had been sitting in the fridge for weeks. I couldn't believe when I cracked it open that it was in beautiful perfect shape.
I also added raw pumpkin seeds and raw almonds.
I recently treated myself to a bag of kale chips which have been dehydrated and coated with cashews and seasonings. These were perfect croutons.
Then the dressing was slathered on liberally as the salad was huge.
This was oil free and grain free but after consuming the whole thing, I didn't feel like I was missing anything.
Thanks for stopping by.
