Vegan Lettuce Wraps With Tempeh

Wow you guys. I guess I didn’t really think about it a ton before having Marin, but it is SO hard to get anything done. Not complaining at all, just being honest that I have so many things I want to do and share and post and well, hopefully you get my point. I’m doing the best I can, and honestly Craig shares in all the responsibilities of taking care of her and doing everything around the house and it’s still tough. Anyhoo, the reason I’m saying all of that is because I am FINALLY going to start sharing some easy vegan recipes we’ve been making and while they are not pretty or styled (sorry just crappy phone pics) they are so GOOD (at least we think so). These Vegan Lettuce Wraps with Tempeh are basically a vegan take on the chicken lettuce wraps we posted a while back.

For this recipe we used tempeh because I like that it crumbles but you could also use tofu. If you really want to save some time you can buy pre-sliced carrots and cabbage. So feel free to get creative with the veggies too. In fact, I usually just go for what we have in the fridge. I hope you guys try these and love them. If you do, post them and tag me, I love to see that! Hope you all had a great weekend.

Vegan Lettuce Wraps With Tempeh

Ingredients

1 avocado
1 red pepper
1/2 zucchini
1 mini cucumber (or half a regular cucumber)
1 package of butter lettuce
1 carrot (or 1/2 cup pre-sliced carrots)
1/4-1/2 head of cabbage (green, red or napa works)
1 small shallot
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
toasted sesame seeds
2-3 tbsp coconut aminos
2-3 tbsp sesame oil
1 8 oz package tempeh (I like LightLife Original or Flax)
thin rice noodles (I use one half of this box – approx 4 oz)

Directions

1. Make the sauce first. Mix 1/3 cup hoisin sauce, 1 tbsp ginger, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, and 1 tbsp sriracha (optional). Set aside.
2. I like to do all my chopping and slicing before cooking. Chop shallot into tiny pieces. Cut pepper into thin strips. Then cut avocado into small cubes and set aside in a bowl. Cut cucumber into small pieces (halves or quarters) and set aside in a small bowl. Slice carrot into thin strips and set aside in small bowl (you can use a julienne peeler if you have one). Then slice cabbage into thin strips. Cut zucchini into cubes (I cut around the center so there’s no seeds). Cut tempeh into strips.
3. Boil water in medium pot for rice noodles. Cook according to instructions (I bring water to a boil, take it off heat, add noodles, let sit for three minutes then drain and rinse with cold water).
4. Saute shallot in a pan over medium heat with 1 tbsp sesame oil. Then when it’s slightly browned (be careful not to burn add tempeh.
5. Saute tempeh over medium heat and break up strips with a spatula so it turns into crumbles. Then add 1-2 tbsp coconut aminos and more sesame oil if needed. Cook for 5-7 minutes.
6. Add pepper to tempeh crumbles and cook for another 2-3 minutes then pour in sauce mixture. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
7. Toss cucumber with some rice vinegar and sesame seeds then put in a small bowl.
8. Season avocado with salt and pepper.
9. Put cooled rice noodles into a small bowl.
10. Rinse and dry butter lettuce leaves if not pre-washed.
11. Put lettuce leaves on plates and serve tempeh in a bowl along with noodles, cucumbers, avocado, cabbage and carrots.
12. Enjoy!