Rather than doing Veganuary, we’re embracing beautiful food this February. Dr Kirstie Fleetwood Meade, better known as the Yogi Psychologist, shares her recipe for tempeh gado-gado
“This is delicious and nutrient-packed dish - a vibrant Indonesian-inspired salad with crisp vegetables, protein-rich tempeh, and a delicious peanut sauce. It's easy to customise with your favourite veggies (or a great way to use up whatever is in your fridge!), while ensuring you get a balanced mix of proteins, healthy fats, and fibre. Plus, the creamy peanut dressing makes it irresistible. If you haven't tried tempeh before, it's like the cooler, fermented cousin of tofu - it has a firm bite, is super versatile, and even counts as one of your five a day as it's made with whole beans. The fermentation process is great for your gut too.”
INGREDIENTS
Tempeh Marinade
- 400g tempeh (I get mine from Tempeh Meades, a local Bristol company)
- 100ml soy sauce
- 100ml maple syrup
Salad
- Two vine tomato
- 1/2 cucumber
- Handful of radisehs
- Handful of beansprouts
- 1/2 hispi cabbage
- Squeeze of lemon
- Salt
Peanut sauce
- 225g peanut butter
- 190ml coconut milk
- 10g fresh ginger
- 15g fresh garlic
- 15ml kecap manis
- x1 lime (juice and rind)
- X1 red chilli
Sesame Lime Dressing
- 20ml olive oil
- 20ml sesame oil
- 15ml lime juice
- 15ml maple syrup
- salt & pepper
METHOD
First up, defrost a block of traditional soy tempeh and cut into cubes. In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce and maple syrup to make the tempeh marinade, pour this over the cubes and leave to marinate. This should be done a few hours ahead of serving to allow the marinade to soak in, for best results leave overnight in the fridge.
Finely shred the hispi cabbage and pop into a sieve. Boil a full kettle of water and slowly pour over the cabbage to soften it. Season with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon and set aside to cool whilst you prepare the dressing and peanut sauce.
Next, the sesame lime dressing; combine olive oil, sesame oil, lime juice and maple syrup and either whisk together or pulse in a food processor. Put aside for later.
For the peanut sauce, start by adding garlic, ginger, chilli and lime juice and rind to a food processor and blend into a paste. Add a little bit of olive oil to loosen if it's too thick. Next add the peanut butter, coconut milk and kecap manis and blend into a creamy sauce and set aside for serving.
If you don’t have kecap manis you can easily make some ahead of time by dissolving brown sugar in soy sauce over a low heat for 2-3 mins.
Now to prepare the salad; start by halving the cucumber lengthways and scooping out and discarding the flesh with a teaspoon, then cut into thin matchsticks. Halve the tomatoes, then quarter the halves.
Top and tail the radishes and thinly slice then add to a bowl with the tomatoes, cucumber matchsticks and a big handful of beansprouts. Add the sesame lime dressing, season with salt and pepper to taste, give it all a good mix then leave for 5-10 mins to come to room temperature whilst cooking the tempeh.
Bake or air fry the tempeh cubes for 8-10 mins at 180c until golden.
To serve; put a big dollop of peanut sauce in the middle of a plate or bowl and smear around in a circle with the back of a spoon. Next pile the hispi cabbage in the middle and then layer on the salad in small handfuls to create some height, top with baked tempeh and if you're feeling fancy you can garnish with some fresh coriander.
Dr Kirstie Fleetwood Meade is a counselling psychologist, yoga teacher and coach, based in Bristol, passionate about working with the mind-body connection. www.theyogipsychologist.com
