Finely chop half a small onion and some of that bell pepper as well as a garlic clove. In a frying pan, gently fry the onion and pepper until soft, adding the garlic for a few minutes at the end. Add a little bit of cumin powder and smoked paprika (if you have either of these) plus a squeeze of tomato paste or passata, a chopped adobo chilli with a bit of the sauce from the can and a splash of water. You could also put oregano in if you have it. Season and simmmer for as long as you have - at least 10 mins - adding a bit more water if the sauce becomes too thick.
In another frying pan, heat up oil and crumble in tempeh and fry until golden and crispy. Mix the tempeh in with enough of the sauce to coat (extra sauce is good on eggs).
Load up tacos / tortillas / spoon over rice and top with the pickled carrots
So this is a bit of a riff on Sichuan style blistered green beans that I'm calling: blistered green beans in umami-bomb tomato sauce. Tomatos are rich in umami as is miso so they work well together!
Make the sauce by combining tomato paste, white miso, soy sauce and sesame oil. I would suggest starting with 1 tsp each of the tomato paste, white miso paste and sesame oil with 1 tbsp soy sauce. Taste, see what you think of the balance and thickness - maybe add more soy sauce if the mixture is too thick (you want it the consistency of single cream). You may also need more quantity if you have quite a few beans.
Cut the beans into 2-3 inch slices.
Heat a wok or frying pan with a little oil until very hot then throw in your green beans. Let them sit for a minute then toss. Leave for another minute, toss again. Leaving them to sit in the hot oil gives them time to blister. Once they have blistered and slightly blackened, take off the heat and mix into the sauce.
You can serve as a side, or on top of rice for something more substantial.
Then take cottage cheese, a small handful of basil, a garlic clove, a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt and whizz it up into a thick dip. If it's too thick you can loosen with a bit of water, a teaspoon at a time.
Pop the crispy chickpeas on top and use bread / chips / toasted pita bread / carrot sticks to dip. You could also use this dip (and the chickpeas) as a pasta sauce, loosened up with reserved pasta water. Two recipes in one :-)
How fantastic :). yellow bell pepper, carrots, tempeh, chilies in adobo
Thanks Charlie! That sounds amazing!
OK I'd go with crunchy tempeh in adobe sauce with pickled carrots:
Either grate for finely baton some carrots and use this quick pickling method: https://thesaucemag.substack.com/p/banh-mi-inspired-chicken-burgers
Finely chop half a small onion and some of that bell pepper as well as a garlic clove. In a frying pan, gently fry the onion and pepper until soft, adding the garlic for a few minutes at the end. Add a little bit of cumin powder and smoked paprika (if you have either of these) plus a squeeze of tomato paste or passata, a chopped adobo chilli with a bit of the sauce from the can and a splash of water. You could also put oregano in if you have it. Season and simmmer for as long as you have - at least 10 mins - adding a bit more water if the sauce becomes too thick.
In another frying pan, heat up oil and crumble in tempeh and fry until golden and crispy. Mix the tempeh in with enough of the sauce to coat (extra sauce is good on eggs).
Load up tacos / tortillas / spoon over rice and top with the pickled carrots
This is so cool!
1/2 can/tube of tomato paste
French beans
White miso
So this is a bit of a riff on Sichuan style blistered green beans that I'm calling: blistered green beans in umami-bomb tomato sauce. Tomatos are rich in umami as is miso so they work well together!
Make the sauce by combining tomato paste, white miso, soy sauce and sesame oil. I would suggest starting with 1 tsp each of the tomato paste, white miso paste and sesame oil with 1 tbsp soy sauce. Taste, see what you think of the balance and thickness - maybe add more soy sauce if the mixture is too thick (you want it the consistency of single cream). You may also need more quantity if you have quite a few beans.
Cut the beans into 2-3 inch slices.
Heat a wok or frying pan with a little oil until very hot then throw in your green beans. Let them sit for a minute then toss. Leave for another minute, toss again. Leaving them to sit in the hot oil gives them time to blister. Once they have blistered and slightly blackened, take off the heat and mix into the sauce.
You can serve as a side, or on top of rice for something more substantial.
I appreciate this won't use up all your tomato paste however! May I recommend checking out Zero Waste Chef's article on other ways to use it up: https://zerowastechef.substack.com/p/13-ways-to-cook-every-spoonful-of
Okay that sauce sounds positively wicked! Can’t wait to try this What else would you recommend for its use? Btw I LOVE this format!!
I would definitely dress any sort of greens in it like broccoli, cavolo nero, thinly sliced and flash fried cabbage, even edamame
Okay I only have red miso. How does that change it?
I always have brown miso in my fridge and I think it works really well in recipes like these - just makes it more umami-ish
This sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it. Thanks!
Love you approach!
I have
-half can of garbanzo beans
-half tub of cottage cheese
- wilted basil
How about cottage cheese and basil dip with roasted chickpea topping:
Roast chickpeas using this method: https://thesaucemag.substack.com/p/what-to-do-with-leftover-chickpeas
Then take cottage cheese, a small handful of basil, a garlic clove, a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt and whizz it up into a thick dip. If it's too thick you can loosen with a bit of water, a teaspoon at a time.
Pop the crispy chickpeas on top and use bread / chips / toasted pita bread / carrot sticks to dip. You could also use this dip (and the chickpeas) as a pasta sauce, loosened up with reserved pasta water. Two recipes in one :-)