eclaire (what’s in a) name?

ok friends, i’ve finally captured one of our favorite meals on film. are you excited?  i sure am, because this is one of the most homey and satisfying meals that we make – as comforting as mac n cheese in my book (but a lot healthier).

this food blog is almost a year old, and i’m frankly amazed (and a little ashamed) that i haven’t posted this recipe for you yet.  i think i’ve neglected to post it because it’s such a regular meal that i take it for granted, and go into the routine of making it without even thinking about grabbing the camera.

but not this time!  from the moment we began chopping the tempeh and zucchini, through the blending of the cashew sauce, and all the way to the last step of combining all the ingredients, it’s documented and ready for you!

so how did we stumble across this amazing standby recipe that we barely go a week or two without eating? well, eons ago – or at least before we discovered food blogs – mike simply googled “vegetarian recipes” and up popped vegweb.com. he searched around for a recipe with tempeh in it, because we were just learning how to prepare this protein, found this one, and we have been hooked ever since.

there are several reasons why we were hooked early on, beginning with the fact that it’s a very quick and complete meal.  the second is that it combines foods we often have on hand: pasta, zucchini, frozen peas, cashews, soy and hot sauces, and tempeh.  and the third reason is that the subtly sweet and nutty cashews mixed with spicy hot sauce perfectly complement the similar flavors in the sweet zucchini and nutty tempeh, both sauteed with a spicy onion. all of these items mixed with noodles that absorb the flavor of sauce make one of the most perfect one-dish (not one pan!) meals that i can think of!

cashew tempeh

adapted from vegweb.com
yields 6 servings

• sauce
• 1c cashews
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4T soy sauce
• 3T rice vinegar
• 2T brown sugar
• 1T toasted sesame oil
• 1T chili paste, preferably sriracha

• stir fry
• 1 block tempeh (12oz), cut into squares
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1c frozen peas

• 1 package noodles, preferably whole wheat
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1. start boiling water in a large pot for noodles
2. for the sauce: place cashews, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, and chili paste into blender or food processor and blend to desired consistency (i like it a little crunchy, not smooth)
3. for the stir fry: heat some oil in saute pan, then add the tempeh, onion and zucchini, stirring until tempeh is brown and onions are translucent, approx 4 mins
4. add the peas to the stir fry for one more minute, then turn off heat and allow the mixture to sit while the noodles cook (you could also start sauteeing later in the recipe)
5. add the noodles to the boiling water, cook until al dente, then drain the noodles and place them back into the pot
6. add the stir fried veggies and tempeh into the pan with the noodles
7. give the sauce one more blend, then pour over stir fry and noodles
8. stir the entire dish together, and serve some amazing food!