Weekend Chef: Tempura Vegetables & Kerstin’s Lentil Salad

Weekend Chef gives you great recipes a few days ahead of time so you can plan a delicious macrobiotic weekend meal.

You don’t have to shell out the big bucks at sushi restaurants to get a plate full of delicious tempura vegetables. You can make them at home for pennies (and a little elbow grease). The light and crisp dish is complemented well with a nourishing lentil salad and makes a nice light lunch, or a wonderful first course to a dinner.

If you have some basic baking ingredients and some fresh veggies, this recipe’s for you:

Tempura Vegetables

• 1 sliced onion
• 2 sliced carrots
• 1 cut-up head of broccoli
• Whole or halved crimini mushrooms
• Any other veggies you’d like

batter
• 1 tblsp baking soda
• 1 tblsp baking powder
• 1 cup ice water
• 1-2 cups whole wheat flour
• pinch of salt
• pinch of wasabi powder (optional)

Mix ingredients together, then add ice water to get a thin, consistent batter. Dip the vegetables in the batter and fry in a pan of safflower or canola oil, flipping them if necessary until they turn a golden brown. The vegetables will be soft and delicious, and the batter will be light and crisp. Dip in shoyu for extra flavor.

Kerstin’s Lentil Salad

• 1 cup dry lentils
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1-2 tblsp olive oil
• 2 tblsp brown rice vinegar
• pinch of salt & pepper

Boil the lentils until tender. Meanwhile sautee garlic and onion, then combine with cooked and drained lentils. Add vinegar, oil and salt & pepper to taste. Serve over brown rice.