Every week our friends at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City develop healthy recipes exclusively for our readers. This vegetarian dish was created for Ronie Huemann from Lemoore, California. She recently had gastric by-pass surgery and asked for a nutritious meal that is “low in sugar and made with lots of protein.” Sounds simple enough, but there was one twist: She doesn’t eat meat.

These multi-colored tempeh vegetable kebobs delivers just that—an excellent high-protein alternative to meat. With 18 grams of protein and 270 calories per serving, these easy-to-make kebobs are a great way for anyone (whether you’re vegetarian or just looking to cut back on your meat consumption) to fill up on the key nutrients you need. The fresh, zesty marinade adds a nice tropical tang that will transport your tastebuds somewhere warm even in the dead of winter.

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Photo by Grace Stufkosky; Recipe by Alexandra Shytsman

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Ingredients

Tempeh
  • 3/4 cup shoyu
  • 2 cups apple juice
  • 1 1/2 cups orange juice
  • 8 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
  • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 8-ounce packages tempeh
Vegetable Marinade
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons shoyu
Assembly
  • 6 cremini mushrooms, stemmed, halved
  • 1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise, then cut into 1/2” slices
  • 1 small yellow bell pepper, cut into 12 pieces
  • 12 cherry tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons apple juice
  • *Special equipment: 12 8-inch skewers , soaked in water for at least 15 minutes

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together shoyu, apple and orange juices, garlic and mustard. Pour marinade into a pot and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to simmer.

  2. Cut each piece of tempeh into 2 pieces. Add to marinade, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.

  3. Remove tempeh from marinade, reserving the marinade (there should be about 1 cup remaining). Pat tempeh dry.

  4. In a large bowl, whisk together vegetable marinade. Add mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper and tomatoes to marinade; let sit for 20-30 minutes, stirring often.

  5. Remove vegetables with slotted spoon.

  6. Preheat a cast iron grill pan.

  7. Cut tempeh into 24 cubes and toss with olive oil. Thread skewers with marinated vegetables and tempeh, using 2 tempeh cubes per skewer.

  8. Grill kebobs 2-3 minutes per side, until grill marks form and vegetables are tender.  *Note: As an alternative to grilling, kebobs can be baked in a 450˚ F oven for 20-30 minutes. If baking, brush kebobs occasionally with vegetable marinade as they cook.

  9. Bring reserved tempeh marinade back to a boil and whisk in dissolved arrowroot, stirring continuously until sauce comes back to a boil and becomes clear.

  10. Serve kebobs with sauce.

Nutritional Information

Calories
270
Total Fat
18g
Saturated Fat
3g
Cholesterol
0mg
Sodium
650mg
Carbohydrates
14g
Dietary Fiber
1g
Sugars
3g
Protein
17g
YIELD:

12 kebobs