Pumpkin Bread and Tempeh Stuffing. Vegan Recipe

One holiday almost over and another one coming up! I say almost because I still have a bunch of Indian Sweets leftover that I should stop eating. Those sugar highs and lows make me hungry at random times. :). So a Savory start for the next holiday. Pumpkin Bread cubes, Tempeh, veggies and herbs in this flavorful stuffing. 

Remember my Pumpkin Wheat bread loaf (pictured below). It makes a wonderful addition to any stuffing. The mild pumpkin flavor from the bread, with the Tempeh and herbs works beautifully. This is not your usual stuffing. There are some usual suspects, onions, celery, herbs and some unusual ones, tomato! You can skip the tomato if you like, add more or less veggies or add some roasted squash. Serve as is, or bake in a casserole with a drizzle of evoo and top with bread crumbs. Or stuff a squash, phyllo sheets, an Eggplant, a sandwich or a herb roasted portobello mushroom. Or bake up in a greased muffin tin to make Stuffing bites! 

The stuffing can be made Gluten-free with glutenfree bread cubes or omit the bread and add cooked quinoa or beans. It can be made soy-free by substituting the Tempeh with soy-free vegan sausage or cooked beans (white or kidney beans or black eyed peas). 

What are your favorite Thanksgiving staples?

Diwali is winding down, and the Super Cyclone has done the damage and left the Indian subcontinent. But the following deep depression with incessant rains for more than seven days have brought miseries to millions of animals of various species under different habitat conditions. Inspite of some of the sancturary still flooded The VSPCA teams have spread out along the coast to rescue as many as possible. See the updates on their Facebook Page. For any donations to help with the rescue work, please donate to Help Animals Indian here(mention For VSPCA) .

Visakha Society for protection and care of Animals VSPCA in Visakhapatnam, India is an eco sanctuary for 1200 animals. They have helped over 80,000 street dogs with animal birth control. They also promote a vegan diet and feed a healthy vegan diet to the very poor in the region.

Other breads you can use in this Stuffing
This delicious Cauliflower Bread Loaf
Everyday Sandwich loaf
Lentil Wheat Loaf
Pumpkin Bread Loaf 
Rye almond Loaf
White Sandwich Loaf
Multi-grain Buns
100% Whole grain Focaccia

Steps:
Dry roast the Pumpkin Bread cubes. You can also toast them up in the oven till golden on the edges. 



Cook the onion and tempeh until golden brown. 



Add peppers, celery and any other veggies or mushrooms if using and cook for a few minutes. 



Add spices and mix well. Add tomatoes, water and nutritional yeast and cook until only a bit of thick gravy remains. 


Add the bread cubes and mix to distribute well. Take off heat. 
Serve hot.

Pumpkin Bread and Tempeh Stuffing
Allergen Information: Free of Dairy, egg, corn, nut. Can be made gluten-free with glutenfree bread. Can be made soy-free by substituting the Tempeh with cooked beans.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons oil
1/2 red onion chopped
1 package Tempeh (8 oz), cubed
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper(red or green or both)
1 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp raw sugar or maple syrup
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp italian herb blend 
1/2 tsp dried sage 
1/2 tsp mustard powder
black pepper or cayenne pepper to taste 
2 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoons nutritional yeast 
1/2 cup water or broth
2 cups day old Pumpkin Wheat bread or other bread, cubed small

Variations: 
Replace Tempeh with vegan sausage
Add mushrooms, carrots, other veggies
Add some thinly sliced greens

Method:
Steam the Tempeh for 8-10 minutes (Cook in boiling water, then discard the water. You can skip this steaming step if you dont find the Tempeh bitter).
In a large pan, dry roast the bread cubes on low-medium heat. You can also toast the bread slices and cube them, or roast them in the oven till golden brown.  
In another large pan, add oil and heat on medium. Add red onion and drained tempeh and cook for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Add the peppers, celery, (mushrooms, other veggies or greens if using) and cook for another 5 minutes. Add all the spices, herbs and mix well. Add tomatoes, vinegar, nutritional yeast and water and cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until half of the water is absorbed leaving a thick-ish gravy of the rest.
Add in the toasted bread cubes. Mix well, take off heat and let sit. Garnish with fresh parsley or sage. Serve as is, or bake in a casserole with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and top with bread crumbs for 15-20 minutes. Or stuff Squash, phyllo sheets, Eggplant, a sandwich, tacos, or a herb roasted portobello mushroom.

Notes:
To make it without Tempeh, add cooked beans when you add tomatoes.
Use more or less water or broth to preferred stuffing. This is a dry-ish stuffing that you can serve right off the stove, but wet enough to serve as is.


This stuffing is being shared at Ricki’s wellness weekend, Allergy Free Wednesdays