Lemon Garlic Pasta with Tempeh & Broccoli

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This recipe is full of good "cold fighting" ingredients, which happen to be some of my favorite ingredients too ( fresh lemons, turmeric, garlic and parsley). In our house, lemon juice go with everything- salad, steamed veggies, rice, pasta, chick'n, fishless filets, potatoes, water, tea. We keep a bowl of them in the kitchen like most people keep fruit. We also keep enough garlic to kill an army of vampires...maybe this is why we are never sick. 

My children and husband all cleaned their plates tonight with this simple dish. It starts with infusing the lemon zest and garlic into the oil. Once you flavor the oil, it becomes an amazing "sauce" to toss with your spaghetti. We used Tempeh, but if you are not a fan of it, you can leave it out, or substitute extra broccoli. This is a simple meal, but one that's perfect for a busy family with different schedules and tastes (like ours) because it can be reheated easily and served later. Hope you enjoy this easy meal with your busy family and make sure to leave me comments if you try my recipes, I LOVE feedback!

Looking for more great Vegan pasta dishes? Try myVegan "Meaty" Spaghetti, Kale Stuffed Eggplant Parm, Cheezy Butternut Macaroni, BBQ Tempeh with Cauliflower "Rice", &

Recipe:

3/4 cup of olive oil 
Zest of 2 medium lemons
6 cloves of garlic, freshly pressed
Juice of 4 medium lemons
2 (8 oz.) packages tempeh, cubed
12 oz. Frozen broccoli florets, thawed
1 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped fine
Salt & lemon Pepper to taste
1 box pasta ( I used fettuccine)

1 Tbsp. turmeric

Brown tempeh with a little oil over medium high heat.

Add salt & lemon pepper to taste and set aside.

Boil pasta in salted water with turmeric, cooking according to package. Drain well. The turmeric will turn your pasta a beautiful bright yellow color once cooked.

In a sauce pan over medium low heat, simmer oil with lemon zest, garlic, and lemon juice. Sauce is ready once the garlic becomes fragrant. This only takes a few minutes. Do not overcook your garlic, or it will be bitter.

Add tempeh, parsley, broccoli, and lemon sauce to pasta.

Toss well.

Serve with lemon slices.

Makes 5 servings.

Easy Sunday Dinner

My daughter asked for her favorite meal pre- vegan : beef tips over mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, sweet & smokey green peas, and lemon roasted veggies. Challenge accepted!! Anything can be veganized, trust me.

We are in love with all things Gardein. They make great meatless products and help make those pre-vegan meals happen again. We don't use a lot of "fake meats", but this meal was so delicious, it was totally worth it!

Looking for more Vegan Dinners?  Try BBQ Tempeh over Cauliflower Rice, Kale Stuffed Eggplant Parm, Sriracha Roasted Tofu with Rainbow veggies, Chick'n in Mushroom gravy with Stuffing And finish with Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

Recipes:

Vegan garlic mashed potatoes:

8 cups potatoes, cubed
1 tsp turmeric
Olive oil
2 cup plant milk
1/2 cup vegan butter
5 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
Salt & pepper

Beefless tips & gravy:

2 (9 oz.) Bags of Gardein beefless tips
8 oz. of sliced portobella mushroom
Oil to sautée
2 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. Earth Balance ( or other vegan butter)

1/2 tsp arrowroot  (or corn starch)
1/2 tsp each- cumin, garlic powder & thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup vegetable stock

Lemony Roasted Vegetables:

6 cups fresh vegetables  (whatever you have on hand will do)

1 large lemon, juiced
1-2 tsp. Italian seasoning 

Salt and pepper to taste

Smokey Sweet Peas :

2 cups of frozen sweet peas
1/4 cup of vegetable broth
1 tsp paprika

Method:

Preheat oven to 400°.

In a large mixing bowl, toss potatoes with turmeric, salt and pepper and enough olive oil to coat potatoes.

Pour potatoes on to a baking sheet.

On another greased, sheet pan, add mixed vegetables. 

Squeeze fresh lemon juice over vegetables. Add Italian seasoning, and pepper to taste.

Place both sheet pans in the oven to roast for about 30 minutes.

While vegetables and potatoes roast, prepare your beefless tips *and gravy...

In a deep skillet over medium high heat, brown Gardein beefless tips *, mushrooms and onions in a little bit of oil.

Remove beefless tips, mushrooms and onions from the skillet and set aside. * Do not remove liquid from the pan, it will help flavor your gravy!

Add butter and flour to the skillet. Whisk until the lumps are gone.

Add vegetable broth, cumin, garlic powder, thyme, arrowroot, salt and pepper to skillet. Whisk again to combine.

Allow to come to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium.

Add 1/2 cup of plant milk and whisk again.

Add beefless tips and mushrooms back to the gravy. Cook an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow gravy to thicken.

While gravy thickens prepare your potatoes:

Melt 1/2 cup of butter over medium heat. Add crushed garlic.

Allow garlic to flavor butter, but do not let it burn. Once you smell the garlic, it's time to add the milk.

Add 2 cups plant milk to the butter and bring to a simmer.

In a large bowl, blend roasted potatoes, warm milk, salt and pepper with a hand mixer on medium, until smooth and creamy.

In a sauce pan over medium heat, warm up peas, vegetable broth and paprika.

Assemble :

Pour beefless tips and gravy over potatoes. Serve with peas and roasted vegetables.

Makes 4-6 servings

* If you can't find Gardein beefless tips, you can use any beefless tips, seitan, tofu or even just extra mushrooms. 

Serve with crescent rolls Or my Vegan cheddar Biscuits