Black rice noodles with spicy red cabbage & fragrant tempeh

If you get, like I do, an organic vegetable package, you will have received and will receive  a lot of cabbages in your bag or crate in the coming weeks.
From previous years I remember I grew tired of all the cabbages, but now I am still quite enjoying them. I enjoy the firmness, the structure of the leaves, the versatility, the enormous nutritional value and the sense of stability they offer me. And I enjoy the challenge of making something different, something new, with every cabbage.
Red cabbage salad, green cabbage wraps, Dahl with various stir-fried cabbages, red cabbage with chickpeas pancakes and macadamia cream and these delicious black noodles with spicy red cabbage and fragrant tempeh!

Black rice noodles for two

Ingredients

1 block of tempeh
1 tbs coconut oil
1 tbs garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1 red cabbage
1 chilli pepper, deseeded
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tbs tahini
¼ tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
¼ – 1 cup water
2 tbs raisins

Preparations

Cook the noodles. Meanwhile, cut the tempeh in smaller pieces. Heat the coconut oil in a pan and stir-fry the tempeh until golden and crispier. Add the garam masala and turmeric. Stir until the garam masala starts to smell super delicious. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Cut the red cabbage in smaller chunks. Transfer to a food processor, add the chilli pepper and blend until crumbly. Add olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, cinnamon, salt and pepper and blend for a few seconds. Add the water and blend until smooth(er). Start with the smallest amount and add more if needed. Mix in the raisins.

Divide the noodles over two to three bowls. Add the red cabbage pesto and top with the tempeh cubes.

Text and image: Irina Verwer.