If this doesn’t get you excited about eating your vegetables and brown rice and tempeh, nothing will.
It’s so good that you may choose tempeh over homemade Twinkies. Well, you may. I may still have the Twinkies for dessert.
I used a pre-chopped vegetable mix, which saved time, but it would be the perfect recipe to clean out the odds and ends that are lingering in your vegetable drawer. Or if you over-buy fresh produce or have a garden that’s exploding all of a sudden with fresh vegetables (zucchini comes to mind), toss any of it in here. There is not one vegetable that I can’t see working in here. Okay, maybe not habenero chiles but aside from those, I’d toss it in.
The oranges gave this dish some pop without dominating the flavor. I used an ample amount of cumin, which is one dominant flavor in taco seasoning mix. If you like the way taco seasoning mix and tacos taste, this recipe is for you.
The recipe turned out to be a Trader Joe’s special. I didn’t set out for it to be that way, but I picked up the veggie mix and then realized that all the other items I chose to incorporate in the recipe were from TJ’s. Gotta love a bargain vegan meal.
Let’s get cooking: Sautee cubed tempeh in olive oil for a minute and toss into a bowl. Warm the rice with a drizzle of olive oil and toss that into the bowl. Sautee and season the veggies and toss them into the bowl. Slice the oranges and toss them into the bowl. Lots of bowl tossing and not much time passing. About 10 minutes from start to finish.
Whisk up the marinade with orange juice, balsamic, and seasonings. Pour it over everything that’s in the bowl and toss.
I first made this salad first using half packages of everything shown; half the package of rice, tempeh, and the veggie mix, thinking there’s no way we’d want more than 4 cups of this salad at once. But it was so good that a day later, I made it again. Skylar kept saying, “Mommy I want more of that rice stuff.” And I said, you know what honey, so do I. So I made the other half of everything in the packages and stunk up my house a couple days in a row with the smell of sauteeing cabbage and broccoli. Delicious.
This is great served warm from the pan, but don’t fear that leftovers will be soggy or somehow not as good. Ironically, I preferred the leftovers a day later, un-warmed and eaten from the little plastic food storage container I had stored it in in the refrigerator. Cool salads are great for summer and the marinade fully absorbed into the rice and the flavors married.
Related Recipes:
Roasted Grapes and Balsamic Reduction with Cheese and Crackers Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!
Tempeh and Cucumbers on a Stick with Brown Sugar Balsamic Reduction Dip (vegan)
Fig Butter & Cumin Tempeh Stir Fry (vegan)
Wild Rice-Stuffed Peppers (vegan, GF)
Mixed Vegetable Stir Fry with Rice (vegan, GF) – I made this on Christmas Day in Aruba two and a half years ago…memories Mango Balsamic Rice, Beans, & Mixed Vegetables (vegan, GF)
Caribbean Citrus and Pineapple Veggie Stir Fry (vegan, GF) Apple Glazed Vegetables & Edamame Stir Fry (vegan, GF)
What are your favorite warm or cool salads, “side salads”, stir frys, or one-skillet meals? I use the word salad loosely. Many people think of a salad as cold iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing, but I think anything that’s tossed with an ample amount of vegetables, eight to be exact in this recipe, constitutes a salad. All the salads, stir frys, and sides shown above are some of mine, but I’d love to hear yours. Link it up.
