This is my new favorite salad. Or rice-and-vegetable-medley or side-salad-that’s-really-a-main-dish or whatever it should be called, I’m loving it.
If this doesn’t get you excited about eating your vegetables and brown rice and tempeh, nothing will.
It’s so good that you may choose tempeh over homemade Twinkies.
Well, you may. I may still have the Twinkies for dessert.
I used a pre-chopped vegetable mix, which saved time, but it would be the perfect recipe to clean out the odds and ends that are lingering in your vegetable drawer.
Or if you over-buy fresh produce or have a garden that’s exploding all of a sudden with fresh vegetables (zucchini comes to mind), toss any of it in here. There is not one vegetable that I can’t see working in here. Okay, maybe not habenero chiles but aside from those, I’d toss it in.
The oranges gave this dish some pop without dominating the flavor.
I used an ample amount of cumin, which is one dominant flavor in taco seasoning mix. If you like the way taco seasoning mix and tacos taste, this recipe is for you.
The recipe turned out to be a Trader Joe’s special. I didn’t set out for it to be that way, but I picked up the veggie mix and then realized that all the other items I chose to incorporate in the recipe were from TJ’s.
Gotta love a bargain vegan meal.
Let’s get cooking:
Sautee cubed tempeh in olive oil for a minute and toss into a bowl.
Warm the rice with a drizzle of olive oil and toss that into the bowl.
Sautee and season the veggies and toss them into the bowl.
Slice the oranges and toss them into the bowl.
Lots of bowl tossing and not much time passing.
About 10 minutes from start to finish.
Whisk up the marinade with orange juice, balsamic, and seasonings.
Pour it over everything that’s in the bowl and toss.
I first made this salad first using half packages of everything shown; half the package of rice, tempeh, and the veggie mix, thinking there’s no way we’d want more than 4 cups of this salad at once. But it was so good that a day later, I made it again.
Skylar kept saying, “Mommy I want more of that rice stuff.” And I said, you know what honey, so do I.
So I made the other half of everything in the packages and stunk up my house a couple days in a row with the smell of sauteeing cabbage and broccoli. Delicious.
This is great served warm from the pan, but don’t fear that leftovers will be soggy or somehow not as good.
Ironically, I preferred the leftovers a day later, un-warmed and eaten from the little plastic food storage container I had stored it in in the refrigerator. Cool salads are great for summer and the marinade fully absorbed into the rice and the flavors married.
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Orange Ginger Tempeh and Brown Rice Salad with Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Orange Ginger Tempeh and Brown Rice Salad
- ¼ cup olive oil, divided into multiple uses
- ¾ cup tempeh, diced in small cubes
- 1 ½ cups pre-cooked brown rice
- 3 ½ to 4 cups diced vegetable medley, red cabbage, green cabbage, broccoli, carrots, radishes, jicama, green bell peppers, celery
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- generous sprinkling of salt and pepper, to taste
- optional spices and seasonings, curry, garlic, onion powder, 21 Salute, Mrs. Dash, etc.
- 1 orange, halved
Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette
- juice from half of 1 orange, about 3 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon cumin, or to taste
- pinch salt and pepper, to taste
- pinch sugar, optional and to taste
Instructions
- Orange Ginger Tempeh and Brown Rice Salad – To a large non-stick skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, add the tempeh and sear it over medium-high heat, flipping as needed. Searing will take about 2 minutes. Add tempeh to a large mixing bowl and set aside.
- To the skillet (you don’t have to wash it), add 1 tablespoon olive oil and over medium-high heat warm the rice, stirring as needed. Warming will take about 2 minutes.
- Add the rice to the mixing bowl with the tempeh and set aside.
- To the skillet (you don’t have to wash it), add 2 tablespoons olive oil, add the vegetables, and sprinkle with ginger, cumin, salt and pepper, optional seasonings. Stir to evenly coat the vegetables. Cook over medium to medium high, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until softened but not mushy.
- Add the cooked vegetables to the mixing bowl with the rice and tempeh.
- Slice half the orange into bite-sized pieces and add to the mixing bowl.
- Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette – Over a small bowl, squeeze the juice from the orange halve. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and whisk to combine. ( I prefer more robustly seasoned food and if you don’t, scale back to 1/2 teaspoon each ginger and cumin. Alternately, add other or additional seasonings, to taste.)
- Pour dressing over the contents in the mixing bowl, tossing gently to combine. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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What are your favorite warm or cool salads, “side salads”, stir frys, or one-skillet meals?
I use the word salad loosely. Many people think of a salad as cold iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing, but I think anything that’s tossed with an ample amount of vegetables, eight to be exact in this recipe, constitutes a salad.
All the salads, stir frys, and sides shown above are some of mine, but I’d love to hear yours. Link it up.
I have been looking for more ideas for FAST weeknight meals. This looks PERFECT! Thank you!
I saw this on Pinterest on my phone a few days ago, and have been eagerly awaiting the chance to read the post in full. It looks wonderful! So many flavors I adore. Repinning.
thanks, Gena, for reading and re-pinning :)
Two of the great loves of my life, tempeh and grain salads, brought together. This looks really amazing, I love the idea of the orange balsamic dressing. Definitely going on my must-make list! Thanks for the recipe!
LMK if you end up trying it!
Trader Joe’s scores again – what a lovely summer salad and your shots are gorgeous…
Thanks Liz…yes, I always score there :)
I have to laugh! The picture with the ingredients looks like my cupboards/fridge, except for the tempeh, which I never had before. I may have to pick some up from TJ’s. Your dish looks amazing!!! I love a nice veggie salad! Yum, yum!! Oh and your dressing sounds perfect!
yum! i truly feel like you and i are food soul mates, averie. i’m always wanting to bake your stuff, then run to trader joe’s for your dinner recipes!
Hey while you’re out running to TJs, can you pick me up some groceries, too? lol
I have to go there tomorrow or Thursday.
That salad looks great, tempeh is downright addictive. As for your questions about favorite dishes:
I love migas for a one skillet dish. And it may seem weird but I really love them cold too…I also have a tempeh hash which is a great one skillet thing…should you want to try:
Migas: https://scrumptiousgruel.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/a-lovely-mess/
Tempeh hash: https://scrumptiousgruel.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/vegangatsby/
Yum and I love one skillet or one pan anything!
whoaoaa Averie! Everything looks amazing I can’t choose! The tempeh salad definitely looks good, as does the roasted grapes with crackers~mmmmm I can only imagine how good that would be for a party. :) And love the new layout. :D
Thanks for the all the compliments!
I love the chopped veggie mix in this recipe! Orange and balsamic is a combo I haven’t had in a long time–sometimes I forget about dressing and salad combos I’ve loved in the past. Always nice to be reminded and bring’em back! I love leafy greens with fruit (fresh or dried), nuts, and some kind of sweet and tangy vinaigrette.
sweet and tangy is a fave combo for me and if you like that, I bet you’d love this vinaigrette!
The blue bowl sets off the colorful dish so nicely! Good old TJ’s always coming through with ways to make life easier! Great summer salad, looking forward to trying!
Thanks…it’s new from Anthropologie and I am cherishing it like a kid cherishes toys on xmas morning.
Dang, now that is a salad! Never thought I would actually want to try tempeh :)
So much firmer and easier to work with I think than tofu…I love it!
This looks so good! I have been looking for more vegetarian dishes to make, as I contemplate making the switch completely :)
The avocado ice cream is amazing, so creamy and delicious and I love the green color. mmm. I may have to make the cookie butter smoothie tonight, since I need to use my milk up before I go out of town Thursday… I may be developing a severe problem here!
you can freeze milk in ice cube trays and use the milk cubes in smoothies at a later date…just fyi
glad you like the avo ice cream!
I would agree! Any type of veggie bowl (warm or cold) is deemed a salad in my book! My favorite this month is roasted brussel sprouts.
I love Brussels sprouts & eat them almost every day!