Jamaican Curried Tempeh Tacos

These were soooo good! I must admit, tempeh is one thing I'm kinda ehhh about. I can't say that it's really one of my favorite things. I have found that I like it better as long as it's not the straight tempeh, I like it better if it's the one that's mixed with other things, like rice or grains. I like it as bacon (a mixture of Isa and Peta's recipe) and that's really about it. But this recipe....it will be made again. We ate the whole dish last night. It was pretty easy too. And I can't wait to try some of the other recipes out of the taco section either: Indian Dal Tacos, Roasted Tomatillo and Black bean Tacos, American BBQ Tacos and with my love of chickpeas: Spicy Moroccan Chickpea Tacos. What a way to use up the bag of 20 flour tortillas (and the corn only comes in packs of 100 (I usually freeze those in packs of 10 - they do make great homemade chips though - spritz with some oil and sprinkle with salt or I like to use some lime chili salt powder I buy in the hispanic section and bake at 350 until crispy).

My keeping the TV off is going well. I basically have stopped keeping it on as background like I have a habit of doing. The big thing is keeping hubby from turning it on and walking away from it. He's so used to keeping it on as background for me that he doesn't think of it either. We're getting better. :) It's something I've wanted to work on for a while, and I had actually started a few days before this weekend started actually. And with the weather turning warmer, and the tv off, I can hear the birds singing. The frogs aren't peeping yet, but the soon should be. I must admit, I love when I can open the windows. My allergies, don't, but I do. I know that opening the windows aren't the best thing for me, but I hate when it gets so hot and humid here and the pugs start to get uncomfortable that I have to close them (because really, that's when I choose to close them - when they get uncomfortable). I've been wanting to do that for years now, but never done it...course that's about the same thing as getting a shed. It's mainly because of hubby - he doesn't want to spend the money on it because he doesn't see the value in either of them.

Hubby heard back from the results of his breathing tests and they didn't find anything - so he's getting a referral to a specialist and then they'll see if they can do anything. I'm still waiting to hear back on the results of my ultrasound (my mammogram was normal). Once my u/s comes back fine then I can make the appointment for my surgery.

For the Jamaican Tacos, I couldn't find mustard greens at the grocery store, and sometimes hubby has problems with greens (even when cooked) so I just used cabbage instead (he seems to have less problems with that) and they didn't have any red peppers so I used an orange one. My curry powder mix is quite spicy -but I also have a huge bottle that I buy at the Indian grocery store too (I get the medium heat one) so these were a bit spicy.

Jamaican Curried Tempeh Tacos

Serves 4
Vegetarian Times May 2008

The yellow curry filling, mustard greens, and red pepper strips lend these spicy tacos the colors of the tropics.

1 Tbsp peanut oil
1 small sweet onion, such as Vidalia or Walla Walla, diced (1 cup)
1 (8 oz) pkg tempeh, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp grated lime zest
4 6-inch corn or flour tortillas, warmed
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped curly mustard greens, finely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped peanuts, chopped

Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook 3-5 minutes, or until onion is softened. Stir in tempeh, pineapple juice, cilantro, curry powder, and ginger. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5 minutes, or until pineapple juice evaporates and tempeh starts to brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in lime juice and zest, and season with salt and pepper.

Fill tortillas with tempeh mixture. Add red bell pepper and mustard greens. Top with peanuts, if desired.

Per serving: 220 cal; 14 g prot, 7.5 g total fat (1.5 g sat fat), 25 g carb, 0 mg chol, 313 mg sod, 7g fib, 6 g sugar