For dinner tonight, I got inspired by a recipe from the Eat-Clean Diet Stripped and made a cauliflower and tempeh dish with Indian spices. Besides making a mess when chopping the cauliflower, the recipe was super easy to put together and I loved the curry flavor. It definitely reminded me of my favorite Cracklin’ Cauliflower recipe – this one is just missing the peas!
Curried Cauliflower with Tempeh
Inspired by Smack Your Lips Spiced Cauliflower and Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 8 oz tempeh, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (Lightlife’s Three Grain is my fav)
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 Tbsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup reduced sodium vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Preparation
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until starting to brown, about three minutes. Stir in cauliflower, tempeh, raisins, spices, salt, pepper, vegetable broth and bay leaf.
- Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer until cauliflower is starting to become tender, about fifteen minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until broth reduces by half, about five minutes.
- Remove from heat and remove bay leaf. Garish with fresh basil and serve with a whole grain like brown rice or quinoa.
I enjoyed this dish warm and loved it. Isaac came home later and had it cold and said it was tasty that way as well. I’m already excited for leftovers tomorrow because curried dishes always taste better after having time for the flavors “marinate”.
In other news, I’ve been trying to stick with a new goal of not eating 2-3 hours before bed. I did well while Isaac was out of town but tonight I gave in to the temptation of crackers and hummus that Isaac was eating when he got home late from Frisbee practice. After trying the hummus with a few crackers I decided I wanted to eat a make them sweet and more “dessert like” so I put almond butter on a few (probably around 8-10). I ended up eating the crackers and then ate a small bowl of cereal as well. I know it’s not the end of the world but I still feel annoyed because I wasn’t hungry! I was just eating because it was there AND the real issue is that I didn’t stop with the crackers, I went ahead and ate cereal too.
Oh well, I’m not sure why I felt the need to get that off my chest but sometimes I think it seems like I eat 100% healthy all the time. I’m definitely not perfect and I still struggle with portion control and eating out of convenience or boredom instead of hunger. Tonight’s a good example of that.
Tomorrow is new day and I’m ready to start it off with a early morning workout and healthy breakfast. Back on track…
Question for you – What’s your favorite ethnic food? All my favorites were featured in this post – Thai, Japanese and Indian. What do you do when you slip up with your healthy eating goals?
I haven’t had any really great experiences with thai food, but I think I might love japanese food!
and I’m with ya girl — I just had some greek yogurt w/ chia seeds. It’s nearly 11:30 at night, and I think I was just pacing around bored and my mouth hadn’t seen food since 7. I’m not beating myself up over it either, I mean, it’s not like it was a pint of Ben & Jerry’s (which is okay too sometimes ;)) but I wasn’t hungry either!
I am so bad at eating out of boredom! It’s terrible. I am all about health foods and I am very good at eating healthy during set meals, but then a few hours later I have a raging snack craving for no good physical reason. Haha. Oh well. As long as we see our problem and try to fix it, right? It could be worse! Anyways, my favorite ethnic food is vegetable coconut korma with basmati rice and some naan or roti. It’s vegan, and it’s one of the meals I show to omnivore friends/family to get them to see how delicious vegan food can be. I live in a small town and there is this Indian restaurant that is (literally) attached to a Sinclair gas station, but it is INCREDIBLE. I’ve tried the same dish at high-end, expensive Indian restaurants in swanky areas, and they haven’t been nearly as good.
I love eating different ethnic food! Growing up, Latin inspired dishes were the ones we ate the least but now, thanks to living in argentina and having a Dominican boyfriend (whose mom makes the BEST beans!) i eat latin dishes the most!
I *personally* dont think that eating at night is a problem. I get a certain amount of calories and the only thing meal spacing affects for me, is my energy level. But if its 9 at night and i still have 300 calories, you better believe that i’m going to eat something:):):) The problem really is boredom eating throughout the day. Mindless munching (normally on junk) when im not hungry.
Why dont you allow yourself to have something light at night like a piece of fruit. So you still get the activity of eating and dont feel left out or tempted to eat something else and your body gets a little bit of energy but you wont feel stuffed when you get to bed!
I love ethic cuisine but I’m always hesitant to play with it because I think it’s just so much better left to the experts. But this tempeth recipe does sound delicious. Maybe I should give it a try.
This recipe is amazing! I still need to try tempeh though…I have been wanting to forever! 🙂
I love Thai and Japanese food as well! That is strange that their summer rolls didn’t come in the thin rice paper. I love traditional summer rolls!
We posted similar things yesterday…too funny! Great minds think alike… lol
http://thehinzadventures.blogspot.com/2011/08/cauliflower-and-chickpea-stew-with.html
I’ve done the same thing (eat when not hungry because it’s there) many times. When I slip-up, my strategy is similar to yours- I just make a healthy choice at the next opportunity.
I can’t choose just one favorite type of ethnic food! I love Japanese (seaweed salad omg), Thai (peanut sauce= heaven), Indian (the spicier, the better!), and Middle Eastern food (HUMMUS!!). Also anything Mediterranean-inspired (it must involve olive oil and/or seafood) has me on board.
I have the late night eating problem too, though lately I’ve been keeping it under pretty good control. My suggestion is to suck on a piece of candy or brush your teeth after your evening snack/dessert so you’re not tempted to eat again. Focusing on another activity when you’re done (blogging, cleaning, etc.) will keep your mind off of the munchies!
Oh I definitely struggle with the snacking thing. I don’t know why I eat when I’m not hungry and although my snacks are generally healthy – nut butters, hummus, crackers, rice cakes – I still don’t NEED them. When I have these trip-ups I try to evaluate the rest of my day prior to the snacking. Did I restrict my calories too much? Did I have a really hard workout that left my body wanting more food? Did I need more protein today? More often then not, there’s a reason for my craving and if I identify it I can keep a look out for the same problem in the future. That way, I’ll be sure to up my protein or have a healthy snack after a hard workout to keep my hands off the late-night munchies later.
Hands down Japanese easily. And remember tomorrow is another day!
Blame it on the boys! My husband’s snacks are typically the downfall of my diet too.
My first comment here~ Love the blog.
There is much to be said for this. Fortunately Isaac seems to generally be supportive and healthy as well! For many women (and men) trying to be healthy, significant others greatly influence outcomes. Psychology today had a good article on it:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201108/how-do-your-relationships-affect-your-health/in-sickness-and-in-health
I’ve never thought to combine tart + pb frozen yogurt, usually I keep the tart + fruity flavors together and all the other chocolate/creamy ones together but, that combo sounds weirdly delicious right now! It’s so hard to pick just one fav ethnic food, but probably Thai. It just slightly edges out Indian for me.
I love your impromptu edamame salad! Yum!
http://mylessseriouslife.blogspot.com/
I love Thai food…however I always order the exact same thing where ever we go 🙂 Oops…I’ll have to work on that! Indian food is something I’ve always been afraid to try at home. Maybe I will give this a shot!
My husband and I love Indian food! We tried it for the first time about a year ago and fell in love! so good.
Evening snacking is my downfall too, but I usually don’t beat myself up about it–I’m usually hungry at night!
My favorite ethnic cuisines are Japanese and Mexican!
I saw this post today and was excited to see a cauliflower recipe! I actually made the roasted one instead that you linked to, but added the raisins and tempeh from this and left out the peas and cilantro because I didn’t have them around. Super yummy! As for portion control, I’m currently trying to stop myself from eating the whole thing!
LOVE Japanese, cuban/spanish and mexican food!
cumin and cauliflower go SO well together. always
I don’t know what it is about tempeh and tofu, but I’m so scared to try them. What’s the worst that can happen!? I just have to do it.
yes! have been eating curried cauliflower and broccoli for the whole summer! so. delicious. 🙂
Oh my goodness that sounds really good! I seriously want this right now lol. I never went to Thai Diner Too.. I’ve heard a lot of people raving about it, but my step-dad said he went once and described to me and why he was disappointed. He said it wasn’t as fresh and didn’t seem to have the same idea that Thai food usually has. Which I guess hence the word “diner” in the name.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Indian food and Thai food is a runner-up 🙂 As for late-night snacking… I do get hungry at night, but not terribly so, so I just eat a little snack. Perhaps you just need to do things that will take your mind off of food? Say if you eat out of boredom or convenience just step away from the kitchen or whatever is making you think about food 🙂
XOXO!!!
mm that curry dish looks amazing! I’ve been on a curry kick lately. Your food at Thai Diner Too looks good! I’ll have to check it out soon! I really like Tip Thai on staples mill – it’s MSG free and you can get brown rice with your meal.
made the Curried Cauliflower with Tempeh last night for dinner…served it over barely…was a fully satisfying and yummy meal!! thanks for posting! can’t wait for lunch, i love leftovers 🙂
keeper recipe for sure…
i also practice the ‘no eating after 8 pm’ rule…
i used this recipe as inspiration last night – turned out great! love your blog
http://bugontherun.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/rest-of-week-recap-new-curry-recipe/