Breakfast Barley with Tempeh

Students started back at school this week, and it is a very busy time for teachers. My job is to support teachers and improve instructional practices in our building. I model lessons, co-teach, do data analysis, provide feedback, offer professional development sessions, and any other support that teachers feel they need to be successful. I try very hard to keep myself centered to better support them and not add stress or tension to their already overflowing plates.

To this end, I try to meditate, exercise, get enough sleep, and eat well daily. I have found that these things really do make a big difference in how I feel each day. I know, I know we have all heard it before, but it is absolutely true that each of these things has a huge impact on our well being.

When planning this week's menu, I wanted to focus on whole grains and lots of veggies. This post on Oprah's site touts the benefits of barley for breakfast, and shares what an awesome choice barely is for breakfast. Using barley as a base for this dish makes it a vegan's breakfast dream, as it is delicious, nutritious, and pretty darn groovy. I am eating this for breakfast every day this week.

Breakfast Barley with Tempeh

Barley Ingredients:

1 cup pearled barley
4 1/2 cups water
Pinch of salt
2 tsp vegetable bouillon

Tempeh Ingredients:

1 8 oz package of tempeh
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp thyme
pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
4 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 oz fresh spinach

Barley Directions:

Cover the barley with 4 1/2 cups of water, add the salt and bouillon, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 45-55 minutes. It will be chewy and creamy when it is done.

Tempeh Directions:

While the barley is boiling, prepare the tempeh by heating the olive oil in a nonstick pan. When the oil is heated, crumble the tempeh into the pan and stir fry until it is starting to brown. Add all the seasonings: garlic powder, sage, thyme, cayenne, nutmeg, syrup, and nutritional yeast and stir. Add the spinach and mushrooms to the pan and continue to stir fry until they have cooked through and have started to soften.

Serve the barley with the tempeh on top.

For 6 servings. Nutritional information from caloriecount.about.com

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 378 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  242 Calories from Fat  64

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  7.1g 11%

Saturated Fat  1.3g 6%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  56mg 2%

Potassium  469mg 13%

Total Carbohydrates  34.1g 11%

Dietary Fiber  6.3g 25%

Sugars  2.7g

Protein  12.3g

Vitamin A 36% • Vitamin C 10% Calcium 8% • Iron 19%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet