Apple & Potato Hash with Blackened Tempeh

Let the apple recipes continue…

I’m slowly working my way through my apple stash.  This recipe is clean and simple, so there’s a lot of room for tweaking it and/or adding in extra ingredients.

Apple & Potato Hash with Blackened Tempeh [vegan, gluten free]

Ingredients:

For the hash:

• 2-3 potatoes (I used 1 russet and 2 red potaotes)
• 1 large apple (I used 1 pink lady)
• 1-2 tbsp coconut oil

For the tempeh:

• 1/2 block (4 oz.) tempeh (I used TJ’s brand)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4-1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 2-3 tbsp oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.  Add coconut oil to pan and microwave for 30 seconds to melt oil (if your oil is already melted omit this step).  Chop potatoes and apples (smaller pieces cook faster).  Toss in coconut oil.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until bronzed and cooked through (time will vary depending on the size you chopped the hash). 

2. Cube tempeh and toss in the spice rub so all sides are coated.  Add oil to the skillet and turn it up to high heat.  Once oil is hot, drop tempeh in pan and place lid on top.  After a few minutes, flip tempeh (either using BBQ tongs or just by shifting the pan) and place lid back on.  The pan may be spitting oil, so do it fast.  It’s okay if they are smoking.  After a minute you can turn the heat off.  The tempeh should be crispy and charred on the outside, but still tender on the inside. 

3. Combine tempeh with hash and serve.

  

Notes:

The tempeh cooks FAST (it only needs a few minutes on high heat before it’s done).  You can omit the liquid smoke if you don’t have it, but I don’t know any substitutions.  The spice rub given is for 1/2 a block of tempeh (4 oz.), so double it if you want to make the entire thing.  This recipe is spicy so reduce the cayenne pepper to the lower end of the range listed if you’re not big on spicy flavors (or sub with chili powder).  That said, since the blackened tempeh is only part of the recipe, it gets neutralized and the heat gets toned down once it’s sharing the spotlight with the other ingredients.

Adding butternut squash or Brussels sprouts to the hash could be awesome.  So could adding a fried egg on top.  Really, there’s lots of room for variation in this recipe, whether it’s with swapping different root vegetables or the kind of apples or potatoes.

 

Yummy.