hearty vegetarian protein bowls with garlic sesame peanut sauce

I’m not much of a “meal-prepper” at the moment. Sometimes I make enough dinner that there are leftovers for lunch the next day, but not much more than that. However, I’m sure I’ll change my tune when this baby arrives (Fall of 2019) and putting real pants on or taking a shower suddenly becomes a grand achievement. I foresee meal prep and freezer friendly meals becoming more and more a part of our routine, and this is one of those recipes I’ll turn to (that, plus pans upon pans of creamy enchiladas). The heart of this dish- quinoa, green beans, and tempeh- will easily last a few days, and let’s be honest, nearly anything tastes great with a garlic sesame peanut sauce.

HEARTY VEGETARIAN PROTEIN BOWLS WITH GARLIC SESAME PEANUT SAUCE
adapted from Nina Olsson’s Gado Gado bowls in her cookbook Bowls of Goodness

Makes 2 large bowls or 3 medium bowls, but the recipe is easily scalable for however many meals you need

Ingredients:
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 cup dry quinoa (any type of quinoa will work here)
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 pound fresh green beans
olive oil
6 oz tempeh
2-3 eggs (one per serving)
2 stalks green onion, sliced
salt, pepper to taste
2 tablespoons coconut oil, for the pan

Garlic sesame peanut sauce:
1/3 cup (90g) peanut butter
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce (or tamari for GF option)
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
pinch or two of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons water
salt, if needed, to taste

Directions:
First, make your peanut sauce by blending all ingredients together in a food processor or blender – set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle the shredded coconut on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 3-5 minutes, until light golden brown. Set coconut aside and turn your oven up to 400 degrees F for use in a few minutes.

Combine quinoa and broth in a small pot and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to very low, cover, and let cook for approximately 20 minutes, until soft and all the broth has been absorbed.

While quinoa is cooking, do the following:

Place the green beans on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. Set aside and cover.

Slice tempeh into 3-inch strips, approximately 1/4 inch thick (or cut into whatever shape you want, it doesn’t really matter). In a medium sized bowl, gently toss the tempeh strips with a couple tablespoons of the peanut sauce. Heat a pan over moderate heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in the pan and lay the tempeh strips down to cook for a few minutes on each side (I like a little bit of golden brown on each side). Set tempeh aside and cover.

In the same pan you used for the tempeh, add another tablespoon of coconut oil and fry your eggs, one per serving.

Assemble bowls: I do a base layer of quinoa and add green beans, tempeh, fried egg, sliced green onion, and toasted coconut on top. Drizzle peanut sauce over the entire bowl and eat!

This makes for great leftovers the next day, or even prepped for future meals.