The Cheapest, Bestest Dinner Ideas, VIII

This dubious bunch of battered pieces is Vegetable Tempura, or Tempura Vegetables. It’s tasty! When we’ve had a run of a lot of meat for dinners and I want to pretend to eat a healthy meal, this is my go-to.

When I’m preparing for it, I pick up our favorite vegetables at the store: zucchini or yellow squash, 2 red potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, an onion, and carrots. My on-hand items are eggs, the batter ingredients, baby carrots, and rice.

I use the recipe included in my copy of Deseret Recipes, and usually double it.

Tempura Vegetables

Ingredients

1 egg
1 tsp soy sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water
Oil for frying
Vegetables, peeled and sliced: broccoli, carrots, potatoes or yams, mushrooms, onion, zucchini or squash

Rice, to serve vegetables on top of

Soy sauce, as topping and/or dip

Supplies

Glass bowl for cooking vegetables
Mixing bowl
Fork
Deep fry pan
Serving plate
Paper towels for draining

Directions

1. Prepare vegetables. Place in microwave-safe bowl with a little water, cover, and cook for a few minutes to soften. Drain.
   
2. Beat together egg, soy sauce, salt, sugar, flour, and water in mixing bowl with the fork.
3. Heat 1-2 inches of oil in fry pan to 375°.
4. Dip each vegetable piece in the batter, then fry all sides in the hot oil.
   
5. Drain on paper towels on the serving plate.
6. Serve over rice, with extra soy sauce for dipping.

My first time making this took awhile, because I was shy about how many battered veggies I put in the oil at a time. Now, I run like an assembly line and have the double batch done in about half an hour.

So, looking for healthy? Quick? Easy? Cheap? Look no further than this fried, crispy meal. Even our picky eater loves it!

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