Tempeh Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are a tasty, filling meal. They are a great way to stock up on plant-based protein and healthy complex carbohydrates.
For my beautiful Catholic friends, we're now a week into Lent and it's Thursday which means tomorrow we're supposed to fast from meat. Which leaves the ultimate dilemma of what to cook for dinner.
I don't know about you, but my go-to is always sweet potatoes. My guess is that approximately half of the recipes on this blog contain sweet potato in some form.
P.S. If you're looking for other no-meat meals to cook for Lent check out my post on 10 No-Meat Meals for Lent and my post on A Catholic Diet for Lent.
My favorite easy sweet potato recipe is Roasted Japanese Sweet Potato Rounds. You just slice the sweet potatoes into some thin rounds and bake them in the oven until they're crispy and brown. So simple and so delicious!
But that's not really a "meal" per-say. I turn them into a meal by dipping them in peanut butter and eating a salad.
Still, it's nice to have one recipe that is super filling and feels more like a meal than a side dish. Enter: Tempeh Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.
These beautiful gems have vegetables, fiber, protein, and FLAVOR. All the things you need in a good meal. And they are perfect for Lent because they are completely meat-free!
Tempeh Stuffed Sweet Potatoes aren't hard to make either. You just have to bake/steam the sweet potatoes (which can be done in advance) and then cook the tempeh for a few minutes. Simple, simple, simple.
If it's that simple, does it still taste good??
YES! The key to a tasty dish is in the seasonings.
Since we're just baking the sweet potatoes, they won't get any seasoning, but we're going to whip up a delicious marinade for the tempeh that pulls the entire dish together.
Start by cooking the sweet potatoes. You can either bake or steam them. Personally, I prefer baked sweet potatoes. They have such a better flavor and they get nice and crispy.
But baked sweet potatoes don't look as pretty as steamed sweet potatoes. And it is much quicker to steam the sweet potatoes.
The decision to bake or steam is completely up to you and what you want out of this dish.
To bake: poke holes in the sweet potato with a fork and place in a 400 degree oven for 40-60 minutes, until the sweet potato is tender and can be easily pierced with a fork.
To steam: boil water and place potatoes in a steaming basket over the boiling water. Cook for 30-40 minutes, until the sweet potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.
Like I mentioned earlier, you can either cook the sweet potatoes ahead of time or cook them with the rest of the recipe. If you are making the entire recipe at once, you'll want to get started on the tempeh while the sweet potatoes are cooking.
These ingredients completely transform this dish. The chili powder adds spice while the cloves provide a hint of sweetness. The bite of the onion and garlic tie everything together.
Place all the marinade ingredients in a food processor and blend until you create a paste.
Crumble the tempeh into small pieces. Then cover in the marinade paste. Let the tempeh sit for 10-15 minutes to allow the flavors to infuse.
After the tempeh has marinated, heat the tempeh in a pan for 5-10 minutes. Use some vegetable broth to keep the tempeh from sticking to the pan.
When the sweet potatoes are cooked through, slice each potato longways with a knife and create an opening in the potato.
Depending on how big your sweet potatoes are, you may want to scoop out a bit of the insides to make room for the tempeh. Or, you could just be like me and completely over-stuff your potatoes!
Fill each potato with the cooked tempeh mixture. Sprinkle with parsley to garnish. Enjoy this simple no-meat meal!
Thank you God for giving us simple foods to turn into delicious meals. We are grateful for the abundance you provide us with daily. Amen.
Love sweet potatoes? Me too! Here's some other sweet p recipes:
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Tempeh Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are a tasty, filling meal. They are a great way to stock up on plant-based protein and healthy complex carbohydrates.
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