These vegan wraps, featuring swiss chard and tempeh, are totally going to blow your mind. It’s one of those perfect high protein vegan meals that you can eat hand-held while lounging outside. Laid along the rib of crisp rainbow or ruby swiss chard are hearty spaghetti rice noodles, crunchy red bell pepper, and pan-fried and lightly charred marinaded tempeh. And to really complete these vegan wraps is a super easy-to-make peanut sauce that you’ll not be able to get enough of! So go out and get some chard – you don’t want to miss your chance at digging in to one of these beauties.
Swiss Chard
I had my doubts about whether swiss chard would make a good vessel for these vegan wraps, but it totally works. Swiss chard has an incredible spine to it, so it can hold tremendous amounts of food without collapsing under the weight. And while the spine is stalwart, it isn’t too chewy or tough, unlike other leathery greens like kale.
If you can find fresh swiss chards that’s about medium-sized, that should be the perfect shape and texture. Too small and they’ll be hard to stuff full of the delicious noodles, bell pepper and tempeh; too big and the chard might be less flavorful and the spine slightly more tough and in the way.
I would recommend looking for swiss chard in farmer’s markets, if that’s an option for you. You’ll likely be able to find the right sized chard much more easily. Both ruby and rainbow swiss chard make perfect vegan wraps.
How To Make Spicy Swiss Chard & Tempeh Vegan Wraps: A Video
High Protein Vegan Meals with Tempeh
In my opinion, tempeh is one of the greatest plant-based proteins there is, if not the greatest.
Protein-packed, yes, but it’s also a tremendous source of b-vitamins and probiotics. It’s not super high in carbohydrates, and it’s got a fair bit of fiber. Basically, unless you’re allergic to soy, tempeh is one of those ingredients that you ought to try, if you haven’t already.
My personal favorite brand of tempeh is Litelife’s Original Tempeh!
The texture of tempeh can be a bit strange at first, and the appearance equally as unusual. But I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to ameliorate the texture and the look of tempeh is to marinade it and pan fry it, as you do for these vegan wraps. My motto for most unusual foods like tempeh is this: when it doubt, get something crispy and with a slight char, and it’ll almost always taste and look better.
So, here’s everything you’ll need for the tempeh marinade, which also doubles as the peanut sauce that you’ll be drizzling over the swiss chard wraps later. This marinade/sauce’ll help you transform the ingredient into something spectacular!
- Tamari, (low-sodium and gluten-free preferred)
- Seasoned rice wine vinegar
- Sriracha
- Maple syrup
- Pure sesame oil, (not toasted sesame oil)
- Dried ginger flakes
- Dash red pepper flakes
- Smooth natural peanut butter (added after the tempeh is removed from the marinade)
Pure Sesame Oil vs. Toasted Sesame Oil
This is one of those incredible important distinctions that you really should gloss over.
Make sure that you’re using pure and un-toasted sesame oil for this recipe, not toasted sesame oil.
Toasted sesame oil is a great garnish, but it’s really not an oil to cook with. It becomes very bitter and burnt tasting if you heat it up.
Pure sesame oil can suffer this same fate, albeit not as readily as its toasted brethren. Even so, the trick to cooking with un-toasted sesame oil is to limit the amount of time it’s over the heat, and use a lower temperature rather than higher.
Luckily, for these vegan wraps, there are only about 2 teaspoons of sesame oil in the marinade, and it’ll be exposed to a medium heat for only a couple minutes as the tempeh fries – not likely to create any bitter or unwelcome flavors, nor will it lose any of that super rich and nutty flavor.
Care for another vegan wrap?
Then check out these pad thai lettuce wraps & these fresh spring rolls!
Did you enjoy these swiss chard vegan wraps? Then consider leaving me a comment or recipe rating (clicking on the stars) before you go!
Spicy Swiss Chard Tempeh Wraps with Peanut Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Marinade/Peanut Sauce
- ¼ cup tamari, low-sodium preferred
- 2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons pure sesame oil, not toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon dried ginger flakes, minced fresh ginger works too
- Dash red pepper flakes
- 1 (8-ounce) package original tempeh, cut into ¼-inch strips
- Couple tablespoons olive oil, for frying tempeh
- 1 ½ – 2 tablespoons smooth natural peanut butter, added after the tempeh is removed from the marinade
- 6 medium swiss chard leaves (rainbow or ruby), washed well and lightly dried
- Some spaghetti rice noodles, cooked to al dente, about 3 – 4 minutes
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin matchsticks
- Some toasted sesame seeds, as garnish
Instructions
- Combine and whisk together the tamari, rice wine vinegar, sriracha, maple syrup, sesame oil, dried ginger and red pepper flakes into a shallow container. Then, cut the tempeh into ¼-inch strips, and marinate the strips in this liquid for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, boil a couple quarts of water, and cook the spaghetti rice noodles until tender, about 3 – 4 minutes. Drain and wash the cooked rice noodles with cold water, and then set aside to drain completely, until you're ready to use them.
- Next, remove the tempeh from the marinade, preserving as much marinade as you can. Add about one third of the strips of marinaded tempeh to a skillet over medium heat with about a tablespoon of olive oil, and fry the tempeh on each side for about 2 minutes, until golden brown and just beginning to char. Do this until all the tempeh has been fried (about 3 batches), replenishing the olive oil when needed.
- After having removed the tempeh from the marinade, add the peanut butter to the leftover marinade liquid, and whisk well to combine, until creamy and easily drizzle-able. This will be your peanut sauce. If you don't have enough liquid in your marinade for some reason, then add another tablespoon of tamari. Set this aside until you're ready to use it.
- Now, wash and lightly dry the swiss chard leaves. Load the leaves with some rice noodles, followed by a few matchsticks of red bell pepper, then the fried tempeh, and lastly drizzled with the peanut sauce and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.
Video
Nutrition
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
Wow! Your recipes keep getting better and better. These are easy to make and really, really delicious. Nice touch with the beautiful Swiss chard which s taking off in my garden. And the peanut sauce. Wonderful! Thank you Vegan Nephew!