I love and collect a lot of fun art but the photo above is one my favorites. It was drawn by a homeless child I tutored in a local shelter. Despite her dire situation, she found a special place in herself and drew such a beautiful positive message – Joyful! (with a g – don't worry we worked on her spelling).
It got me thinking about faith and how much faith it takes to try to change your life. Certainly deciding to become a vegan took faith. My grandmother spoke about faith a lot to me when I was growing up. If I lost my glasses – my grandmother would say “if you have faith, you will find them”. If something upset me at school – she would tell me to have faith in people.
It really stayed with me and I believe that one believes what one tells themselves over and over again.
I recently read “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell and I loved his perspective on genius, work ethic and what it takes to accomplish anything (including being a vegan) and in one word it is practice. I think faith can be practiced everyday by believing in it. So have faith in yourself today in what ever challenges you and remember faith is a magnetic force to a positive life. We all deserve that!
So here is what I had for dinner last night. A simple stir fry of green beans and tempeh. Quick, easy and satisfying. If you don't know what tempeh is – it is a traditional soy product originally from Indonesia.
It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into cake form. To be honest – it kind of looks a little gross but tastes good and pretty much takes on what ever flavors you add to it. It also has a nice crunch which is missing in a lot of vegan meals. The best thing about tempeh is that it's a great source of protein, easily absorbed by the body, high in fiber and has been proven to help lower cholesterol. I tried it in a traditional Indonesian dish with an ordinary vegan twist (meaning spicy of course and not as many ingredients). It's day 86 – Wish me luck!
Spicy Green Beans with Crumbled Tempeh
- 1½ tsp red chili powder
- 1½ tsp low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- juice of 1 small lime
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups trimmed green beans
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp red curry paste (or red chili paste if you don't like curry)
- 8 oz block tempeh
- 4 red chili peppers, seeded and chopped (I like serrano) You don't have to add this many - I just like things spicy
- ⅛ to ¼ cup vegetable broth
- In a medium bowl, with your hands crumble the block of tempeh
- In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, soy, salt, sugar and lime - set aside
- In a large wok or skillet, heat oil, over high heat. Add green beans, red curry paste and the veggie broth. Cook 3 minutes, shaking pan and flipping every 30 seconds. Add tempeh, garlic and chili peppers and cook 3 minutes, gently flipping every 30 seconds to brown tempeh on all sides. Add chili powder sauce and cook 1-2 minutes, shaking often until green beans and tempeh have browned. You want the tempeh brown and the green beans crisp.
Thanks for the comment on and link back to my blog. Of course I linked to you! Reading about your stunning success is one of the many things that nudged me back toward ETL.
This dish looks really good, although I'm not a big fan of tempeh. Maybe I'll give it a try with tofu or chickpeas!
Thanks for the kind words Karena – I am with you about the tempeh but I am trying.