I was reading The Book of Tofu yesterday and learned that tempeh is actually rich in vitamin B12, one of the dietary recommendations outlined in the book Diet: A Holistic Approach by Rudolph Ballentine, a required reading in our teacher training last year. According to Dr. Ballentine, a vegetarian diet should consist of grains, lentils/beans/legumes, vegetables, raw, and B12-rich foods. He recommends that each meal should have grains, lentil group and vegetables. Raw foods can be taken 1-2x a day and B12-rich foods, every other day.
By doing so, all the necessary nutrients are met and malnutrition, a common problem among starting and uninformed vegetarians, is avoided.
I like tempeh because it's easy to prepare and very tasty. I had this for dinner last night and it was great. Simple but satisfying: Fried tempeh with char siu sauce, steamed rice, cucumber salad with Asian dressing.
Recipe for Asian Dressing:
1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Sesame Oil (The Chinese variety not the Indian or Middle Eastern one.)
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp roasted white sesame seeds
salt and pepper to taste
Mix everything together and pour over thinly sliced cucumber. You can also pour it over your favorite mix of leaves, tomato, carrots and cucumber.
(Again, I can't upload the image for some reasons. Here's a nice image of tempeh, and a link to tempeh info and recipe.
2 comments:
Actually, unfortunately, the information in The Book of Tempeh is a little outdated, and it turns out the "B12" present in tempeh is not actually an authentic B12... it's more of an "analog" B12. This seems to suggest there is no hearty vegetarian/vegan source of the vitamin.
http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/articles/getting-enough-vitamin-B12.php
Hi Brian,
Thanks for this information.
Cheers.
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