Tempt Me Please!

Eat more plants and less animals…healthier for you, the planet and the animals.

How about using tempeh as a substitute for ground meat (chicken, turkey, and beef)? You will get a similar taste by using the same spices/herbs/vegetables in your dishes, but the bonus is that you will be consuming less artery clogging saturated fat, cholesterol and all this food for a fraction of the calories!

Tempeh is a soybean product that has gone through a fermentation process in which the soybeans are bound together to make a solid form similar to a veggie patty.

What foods should I try using tempeh to replace ground meat?

• Meatballs
• Meat sauce
• Taco meat
• Chili
• Asian lettuce wraps
• Burgers

Don’t say “Yuck!” until you try it at least once!

Start by cooking up this week’s recipe featuring, Meatless Meatballs. You may be surprised when a family member has no clue that these faux meatballs are not the real McCoy!

Here is a low cholesterol recipe of Meatless Meatballs:

Meatless Meatballs

Vegan meatballs: egg and dairy free!

Yield: 16 meatballs (1/8 cup per meatball)

Ingredients:

Meatball Mixture

• 1- 8 oz package of tempeh, crumbled up
• ½ cup of onion, chopped
• 1 flaxseed egg (Mix together 1 Tablespoon of ground flaxseed + 3 Tablespoons of warm water. Let mixture sit for 10 minutes)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup of fresh parsley
• ¼ cup of fresh basil
• ½ tsp of dried oregano
• ½ tsp of dried thyme

• ½ cup of breadcrumbs OR piece of whole wheat bread, processed into bread crumbs
• 1 Tablespoon of olive oil

Directions:

Add all the meatball ingredients into a food processor and mix until all the ingredients are blended together and there are no big chunks. Roll and cover the meatball mixture into the breadcrumbs. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and place the meatballs on the skillet. Cook the meatballs until they are slightly browned on all sides (approx. 20 minutes). Roll the meatballs over every 5 minutes. Plain meatballs are ready to be served.

Tomato sauce cover meatballs: Add a low-sodium jar of tomato sauce or homemade tomato sauce to the meatballs in the skillet and let the tomato sauce simmer for 10 minutes.

Place meatballs on top of 1 cup of whole grain pasta or spaghetti squash!

Nutrition Information Per Serving:

Calories: 56 kcal
Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 5g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 4g
Sodium: 35 mg