Vegan Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium bell peppers (any color), chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounces seasoned tempeh, cut into 1-inch pieces, recipe follows
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce (Tabasco or other)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 quarts water
1 pound red kidney beans, rinsed and picked of debris

Directions:
Place the vegetable oil in a 7-quart dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper, onion, celery, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions and celery are semi-translucent and the bell peppers are tender, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the seasoned tempeh, bay leaves, thyme, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, water and beans to the pot and increase the heat to high. Cook, stirring frequently until the mixture comes to a boil, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook for 1-1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat slightly to maintain a steady simmer and continue to cook for another 30 to 40 minutes or until the beans are tender and the sauce is thickened. Use a potatoe masher to increase the creamie texture to your liking.


Serve the beans over rice (short grain brown rice works well.)

Seasoned Tempeh

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Braggs liquid aminos or soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
12 oz. tempeh

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients except the tempeh and vegetable oil. Pour the mixture into an 8x8 baking dish. Cut the tempeh into enough strips to cover the bottom of the baking dish. Marinate for at least 1 hour, turning the tempeh strips several times. Remove tempeh strips from marinade (reserve for later) and fry in vegetable oil, turning frequently, until tempeh becomes firm and browned. Pour remaining marinade over tempeh then remove from heat, allowing the tempeh to absorb the marinade. Once tempeh has cooled chop into 1-inch or smaller pieces (the spatula works well for this, you may want to cut it as you are cooking it.)