E2 EZ EE THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2 , 2020
TOM MCCORKLE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST; FOOD STYLING BY LISA CHERKASKY FOR THE WASHINGTON POSTRoasted Spaghetti Squash With Tempeh
Bolognese4 servings
If you’ve never cooked tempeh, this is a great starter recipe, because
its grated crumbles absorb the flavor of the sauce. Rather than the
classic slow-simmered Bolognese, this version comes together in less
than a half-hour. It pairs well with strands of roasted spaghetti squash,
but feel free to serve it instead over pasta, polenta, potatoes or grilled
eggplant.
The roasted spaghetti squash and the sauce can each be refrigerated,
separately, for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 6 months.
Adapted from “The Complete Vegan Cookbook” by the Natural
Gourmet Center (Clarkson Potter, 2019).Ingredients
l1 large (2^1 / 2 -pound) spaghetti
squash
l 11 / 4 teaspoons fine sea salt,
divided, plus more to taste
l^1 / 2 teaspoon freshly cracked
black pepper, divided, plus
more to taste
l4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive
oil, divided
lOne (8-ounce) package
tempeh, grated on the largeholes of a box grater
l1 medium yellow onion (about
10 ounces), finely chopped
l4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
l1 teaspoon dried oregano
l1 cup dry red wine
lOne (28-ounce) can no-salt
crushed tomatoes or tomato
puree (3 cups)
l3 tablespoons fresh basil
leaves, choppedSteps
lPosition a rack in the middle of
the oven and preheat to 450
degrees.
lCut the spaghetti squash in half
lengthwise, and scrape out and
discard the seeds (or save them
for roasting). Sprinkle with^1 / 4
teaspoon of the salt and^1 / 4
teaspoon of the pepper, and
place, cut-side up, on a large,
rimmed baking sheet. Roast for
about 40 minutes, or until the
squash feels soft when pressed.
When the squash is cool enough
to handle, use a fork to scrape
the stringy flesh into a medium
bowl.
lMeanwhile, in a medium skillet
over medium-high heat, heat 3
tablespoons of the oil until
shimmering. Add the tempeh
and saute until it starts to turn
dark gold, stirring occasionally
and scraping the bottom of the
pan, 8 to 10 minutes. (The tem-
peh will quickly soak up the oil;
that’s okay.)
lStir in the remaining 1 table-spoon of oil, the onion and 1
teaspoon of salt, and cook, stir-
ring occasionally, until the on-
ions soften, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and oregano and
cook until fragrant, about 2
minutes. Stir in the red wine
and deglaze the pan by scraping
off all the stuck-on bits on the
bottom and sides of the pan. Let
the liquid simmer until it is
nearly evaporated, about 4 min-
utes.
lStir in the tomatoes, reduce the
heat to medium, cover the skil-
let and cook, stirring occasion-
ally, until the sauce darkens and
thickens and the flavors meld,
about 20 minutes. Taste, and
add more salt and pepper, if
needed. Stir in the basil and
serve over the roasted spaghetti
squash.
Nutrition | Per serving: 402 calories, 16 g
protein, 48 g carbohydrates, 21 g fat, 4 g
saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 819 mg
sodium, 10 g dietary fiber, 17 g sugar
Recipe tested by Joe Yonan; email questions
to [email protected]You may have
picked up two
things about me
and my food
tastes over the
years: First, that
I’m a fan of
tempeh, the
traditional
Indonesian
fermented soy cake that I think
should be more popular than it
is. Second, that I’m not a fan of
spaghetti squash, which I have
(even recently) referred to as
watery and bland.
Well, a recipe that uses the
former got me to reexamine my
thinking about the latter. And
maybe it can do the same for
you, whether you’re a fan of
both or neither.
Let’s take tempeh. It can seem
mysterious if you haven’t
cooked with it before, and in its
raw state it’s perhaps not too
pretty (at least in some
beholders’ eyes). But it’s a
nutritional powerhouse, and
when you know how to cook it
(just like with anything, really),
it can surprise you with its
versatility.
Here, you grate it, brown it
and combine it with a lot of
garlic, plus onion, tomatoes and
wine for a vegan take on
Bolognese sauce that comes
together much more quickly. It
absorbs the flavors of the sauce,
and believe me, you don’t take a
bite of this and think, “Is that
tempeh?” You think, “Yum.”
Next up: spaghetti squash. My
colleague Becky Krystal recently
wrote a piece about being more
open to learning how best to use
it, and I stumbled on a
technique that changed my
mind: You roast it at fairly high
heat, with no need for the
typical water in the roasting
pan, and it keeps the squash
drier, which better concentrates
its flavor.
For this dish, you shred it for
a pasta-like base for the tempeh
Bolognese, but I won’t fault you
if you want to put the sauce on
anything else you’d like: pasta,
of course, or polenta, or mashed
or roasted or baked potatoes.
This, then, is really two
recipes in one. Pick and choose:
One, the other — or both.
[email protected]This vegan take on
Bolognese is full of
comforting flavors
Joe Yonan
WEEKNIGHT
VEGETARIAN
Food and dining editor: Joe Yonan • Voraciously editor: M att Brooks • Recipes editor: A nn Maloney • Art director: A manda Soto •
Designer: T wila Waddy • P hoto editor: J ennifer Beeson Gregory • Food critic: Tom Sietsema • Staff writers: T im Carman, G. Daniela
Galarza, Emily Heil, Becky Krystal • Editorial aide: Kari Sonde • Copy editors: J im Webster, Jordan Melendrez • Assignment editor: O lga
Massov | Contact us: [email protected], 202-334-7575. The Washington Post, Food, 1301 K St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071FOODdrizzle of olive oil and topped
with thin slices of lemon before
it is baked for about 15 minutes.
While the fish is baking, you
make a mouth-puckering sauce,which the authors call a salsa,
with shallots, garlic, capers,
butter and lemon juice and zest.
The softened allium sweetens as
it cooks and marries well withthe tart capers and lemon. The
salsa is spooned over the hot-
from-the-oven fish. And dinner
is on the table.
If you want to lighten up thedish, you can use extra-virgin
olive oil rather than butter to
make the salsa.
The first time I made the
dish, before I began the recipe, I
halved small Brussels sprouts
and slipped them into a frying
pan with salt, pepper and olive
oil to pan-fry while I cooked therest. Another time, I put a pot of
baby new potatoes on to boil
before I started the fish and
enjoyed the dish, as the authors
suggested, with potatoes on the
side, grabbing a bit of salsa on
my fork with the potato.
Delicious.
[email protected]Ingredients
F or the trout
l4 (4^1 / 2 - to 5-^1 / 2 ounce) fresh
trout fillets, or any other firm,
white-fleshed fish, such as sea
bass or tilapia
l^1 / 4 teaspoon kosher salt
l^1 / 2 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
l1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive
oil
l8 thin lemon slices from 1 large
lemon
For the caper salsa
l2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive
oil
l3 shallots (about 7 ounces
total), thinly sliced
l4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
l^1 / 4 cup (1^3 / 4 ounces) drained
capers
l3 tablespoons unsalted butter
l1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
l1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
l^1 / 4 teaspoon kosher salt
l^1 / 4 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
lChopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
leaves, for serving. optionalSteps
lMake the trout: Position a rack
in the center of the oven, and
preheat to 325 degrees. Line a
large, rimmed baking sheet
with parchment paper.lPlace the fillets on the prepared
baking sheet. Season the fish
with salt and pepper, and driz-
zle it with the oil. Place two
slices of the lemon on each fillet.
lRoast the fish on the middle
rack of the oven for 12 to 15
minutes, or until a thermome-
ter inserted in the thickest part
of the fish registers 130 degrees
and the fish is flaky and sepa-
rates easily with a fork. (Thicker
fillets may need 2 to 3 more
minutes.)
lMake the salsa: While the fish is
baking, place a saucepan over
medium-high heat, then heat
the oil until shimmering. Add
the shallots and garlic and cook,
stirring constantly until they
soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the
capers, stir and cook, stirring
constantly, until the shallots
just begin to darken, about 2
minutes. Add the butter and stir
until melted. Remove from the
heat, and stir in the lemon juice
and zest. Season with the salt
and pepper.
lTo serve, transfer the trout to a
serving platter. Spoon the caper
salsa on top, then sprinkle with
the parsley.
Nutrition | Per serving: 399 calories, 28 g
protein, 11 g carbohydrates, 27 g fat, 8 g
saturated fat, 97 mg cholesterol, None mg
sodium, None g dietary fiber, None g sugar
Recipe tested by Ann Maloney; email
questions to [email protected]It can be hard to
find balance this
time of year. As
the holidays
approach, I
imagine myself
busily and
happily planning
menus,
addressing
Christmas cards
and selecting
gifts, with Nat King Cole playing
in the background.
If I am not careful, however,
busily and happily can easily
morph into frantically and
grumpily. It is not necessary nor
is it in the spirit of the season.
In 2020, we may not be
traveling or gathering as much
as we would like, but many of us
still will be packaging gifts and
cookies to mail to friends and
jumping on Zoom calls for
holiday get-togethers.
One thing I do to find balance
this time of year is to plan
weeknight meals that are
streamlined, with few
ingredients — dishes that offer
big flavor without much work.
This simple baked fish dish is
a great example of what I mean.
I found the recipe in “Epic 30-
Minute Roasts” (Page Street
Publishing, 2020) by Maja and
Jernej Zver, who write the
Slovenian food blog Jernej
Kitchen.
I’m keeping this well-
organized cookbook handy
during this holiday season
because I like its vibe and have
already bookmarked a few other
simple dishes I want to make,
such as roasted chicken thighs
with grapes and polenta and
roasted cauliflower steaks.
The book is a good resource
for new cooks, too. The authors
offer tips, such as using slender
cuts of meat and thinly sliced
vegetables for quicker cooking,
and provide a list of pantry
staples as well as equipment
required. The menu selection
also includes a small batch of
sauces that would work well on
so many dishes, along with
quick-to-make sides and uber-
simple desserts, too.
The baked fish dish is simple
as can be. Trout, or your favorite
light, white-fleshed fish, is
seasoned with salt, pepper and a
Ann
Maloney
DINNER IN
MINUTES
A mouth-puckering caper salsa perks up this streamlined, quick-baked trout
Baked Lemon Trout With Caper Salsa
4 servings
This gently baked fish fillet recipe is topped with a tangy caper salsa
enriched with a bit of butter. Skin-on or skin-off fillets work well. Serve
with your favorite seasonal green vegetable, such as pan-fried Brussels
sprouts.
Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Adapted from “Epic 30-Minute Roasts” by Maja Zver and Jernej Zver
(Page Street Publishing, 2020).TOM MCCORKLE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST; FOOD STYLING BY LISA CHERKASKY FOR THE WASHINGTON POSTGift Peace of Mind
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