Black Rice and Tempeh Vegetable Bowls (with Crispy Broccoli & Ginger Scallion Oil)
This Vegetable Bowl from Gena Hamshaw’s cookbook A Grain, A Green, A Bean (2025) combines simplicity and flavor for a nourishing bowl you’ll want to make again and again! Combining black rice, tempeh, and broccoli with delicious ginger scallion oil, this recipe is perfect for anyone who wants a comforting bowl that’s packed with wholesome ingredients without sacrificing taste.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Gena Hamshaw, the registered dietitian and cookbook author behind the popular The Full Helping Blog is known for recipes that deliver when it comes to both nutritional content and taste. This recipe is no exception! These vegetable bowls are cozy, comforting, delicious, and incredibly flavorful.
Here’s what Gena Hamshaw herself says about these vegetable bowls (and their amazing sauce) in the cookbook:
“Of the many recipes I’ve made in the past, I’ve said, ‘This recipe is all about the sauce.’ But this one really is all about the sauce! The star of the show here is ginger scallion oil. To make it, you simply pour piping-hot oil over a mixture of grated ginger, finely chopped green onions, and salt. The sauce can elevate just about anything you add it to, including these simple bowls of crispy broccoli, gingery tempeh, and black rice. Double the sauce, if you like, and reserve the extra for noodles, rice, tofu, cooked greens, roasted vegetables, or dumplings. (The sauce will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, though my supply never lasts that long.)”
After testing this recipe ourselves, we can confirm that the sauce is, indeed, a game changer! This recipe can be meal-prepped, enjoyed as a yummy weeknight dinner, or served to dinner guests. Since it includes separate elements (the rice, the broccoli, the tempeh, and the sauce), these vegetable bowls also make for excellent side dishes you can serve during holiday feasts!
A Grain, A Green, A Bean: One Simple Formula, Countless Meatless Meals
Before we jump into the ingredients you’ll need and how to make these vegetable bowls, here’s a quick note on the wonderful cookbook this recipe is excerpted from. This is the perfect cookbook for anyone (vegan or not) looking for wholesome meal inspiration and guidance following a simple formula.
Gena Hamshaw is a registered dietitian with nearly two decades of experience in plant-based recipe development and it shows! One of her many strengths is making complicated nutrition science accessible, approachable, and tasty. As its title promises, each of the recipes included in A Grain, A Green, A Bean includes a grain (such as quinoa, rice, bread, etc.), a green (such as broccoli, spinach, or kale), and a bean (such as tempeh, which is made from soybeans.) While this formula is simple, Hamshaw’s book proves that it’s anything but boring. This cookbook is suited for people with busy schedules and those craving sustainable simplicity without sacrificing flavor.
TIP: Gena Hamshaw’s previous cookbook, The Vegan Week, makes for the perfect companion piece to A Grain, A Green, A Bean.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The following is an overview of the ingredients needed to make these vegetable bowls. For the exact measurements, be sure to refer to the recipe card below.
What’s Tempeh?
Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans, resulting in a plant-based protein that is similar to tofu, but slightly less processed and a little chewier. It’s excellent in stir-fries, wraps (such as these vegan wraps with tempeh and kale), salads, and vegetable bowls like these black rice, tempeh, and broccoli bowls.
The Secret To Cooking with Tempeh
While tempeh is an amazing ingredients, it’s not quite as well known as other plant proteins and it, unfortunately, sometimes gets a bad rap for being on the bitterer side.
The secret to cooking the perfect tempeh and removing its bitterness? Steam or boil it briefly first! A quick extra step that makes all the difference. In this vegetable bowl recipe by Gena Hamshaw, the tempeh is briefly steamed before being sautéd and the result is a tender and flavorful tempeh that is absolutely delicious!
How to Make This Recipe (Step By Step)
The following is a brief step by step overview of how to make this recipe (with images). For a recap, be sure to refer to the recipe card below.
Step One: Preheat The Oven
You’ll start this recipe by preheating the oven and lining a baking tray with parchment paper (for the broccoli.)
Steam the Tempeh
Next, you’ll steam the tempeh using a steamer pot. While it’s steaming, you can start prepping the vegetables and other ingredients.
Cook the Rice
Once the tempeh is steamed, you’ll use the same pot to boil the black rice.
Roast the Broccoli
Once the oven is hot enough, you’ll roast the broccoli florets.
The broccoli is perfect once it’s crispy and beginning to brown.
Prepare the Ginger Scallion Oil
The ginger scallion oil is made by heating avocado oil, then pouring the hot oil over fresh ginger, green onions, and salt.
Fry The Tempeh
For the tempeh, you’ll make a quick sauce, then you’ll sauté the steamed tempeh in toasted sesame oil.
Once the tempeh turns golden, you’ll add the sauce and keep cooking for a couple extra minutes.
The tempeh will have absorbed the sauce making it both crispy and flavorful.
Bring it All Together
Now it’s time to bring it all together! You can either plate the vegetable bowls beforehand or place each dish on the table buffet-style.
If you’re cooking for fewer than four people, you can either adjust the serving size in the recipe card below or save leftovers in the fridge for later!
Black Rice & Tempeh Vegetable Bowl – Recipe Card
Use this recipe card to save, pin, or print this vegetable bowl recipe. For additional information and step by step photo instructions, be sure to read the full article above.
Black Rice and Tempeh Vegetable Bowls (with Crispy Broccoli & Ginger Scallion Oil)
Ingredients
Tempeh
- 8 ounces Tempeh - cut into 1-inch/2.5cm cubes
- 2 teaspoons Toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons Tamari sauce
- 1 tablespoon Unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Pure Maple Syrup
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger - finely minced or grated
- 1 pinch Red pepper flakes
Black Rice
- 1 cup Black Rice - measured dry
Roasted Broccoli
- 3 crowns Broccoli - cut into florets and stem pieces
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Avocado oil
Ginger Scallion Oil
- 1/2 cup Avocado oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh ginger - finely minced or grated
- 1 bunch Green onions - green and white parts, finely chopped crosswise
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF/220ºC. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or use a nonstick sheet pan.
- Fill a medium pot with a few inches of water and boring the water to a boil. Fit the pot with a steamer attachment. Add the tempeh to the steamer and steam for 10 minutes, then set the tempeh aside.
- Remove the steamer attachment and add enough additional water to fill the pot. Bring the water to a boil. Wash the rice, then add it and boil, like pasta, for 30 minutes, until the grains are tender (TIP: you can already start on the next steps while the rice is cooking.) Drain the rice through a fine-mesh strainer, then return the rice to the pot. Cover the rice until you're ready to serve it.
- Place the broccoli on the prepared sheet pan in a single layer. Drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the avocado oil, then mix the florets and oil together. Transfer the sheet to the oven and roast the broccoli for 12 minutes, until the bottoms of the florets are browning. Flip the pieces and roast for another 5 to 8 minutes, until crispy and browning throughout.
- In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons/30g of the ginger, the green onions, and salt. Add the remaining 1/2 cup/120ml avocado oil to a medium frying pan. Heat the oil for 3 to 4 minutes over medium-high heat, until gently bubbling. Drop a piece of green onion into the oil to test its readiness; it should sizzle aggressively when added. When the oil is hot enough, pour it over the green onion mixture in the bowl. Stir the mixture well, cover the bowl, and set aside.
- Add the sesame oil to the frying pan over medium heat. Add the tempeh cubes and sauté for about 4 minutes, flipping the cubes periodically so all sides are just starting to turn golden.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the tamari, vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, red pepper flakes, and the remaining teaspoon ginger, then add this mixture to the hot pan with the tempeh. Continue cooking the tempeh for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sauce has been absorbed and the tempeh is crisping and darkening.
- Divide the rice, broccoli, and tempeh among four bowls. Spoon a generous amount of the ginger scallion oil over each bowl, then mix well.
Notes
- STORAGE: The rice, tempeh, and broccoli will keep in individual airtight containers in the fridge for up to 4 days, and the ginger scallion oil will keep for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe by Gena Hamshaw ©. Reprinted with permission from A Grain, A Green, A Bean (2025) published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Photography by © Kim-Julie Hansen.
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More Delicious Vegan Recipes
If you enjoyed this vegetable bowl recipe, you might also like the following vegan recipes.
- Orzo Stuffed Tomatoes by Gena Hamshaw
- Balsamic Tempeh by Gena Hamshaw
- Vegan Wraps with Tempeh & Kale (High Protein, Easy to Make)
- 15-Minute Vegan Tempeh & Kimchi Bowl
