Miso Curry Zucchini, Potatoes, Tempeh and Kale

A couple days this week it was over 100 F (with the heat index) here in Durham, NC. In addition to making hell jealous with its temperatures, the air was so thick and humid you could practically swim laps through it. Let me tell you how fun it was to bike about about 10 pounds of veggies home (why, oh why did I order a gigantic cantaloupe from the CSA?) in that lovely weather. Ok, you probably get the picture so I'll spare you the details.

So after swearing up a storm at the heat all day long, what did I do when I got home? Well I cranked the oven up to 400 F of course! You're probably asking yourself why, pray tell, would you do such a thing? Because nothing stands between me and some roasted veggies. Nothing. Especially when they're savory, slightly spicy and overall delicious.

Miso-Curry Zuchini, Potatoes and Tempeh
Adapted from Super Natural Every Day, by Heidi Swanson
Makes 4 servings

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup white miso paste (you could use red or yellow miso as well)
• 1 heaping tablespoon of red Thai curry paste (available in the International foods section of most grocery stores)
• 12 oz / 340 g zucchini, summer squash, a combination or any other squash. I used zucchini and summer squash cut into 1/3 inch / 1 cm thick half moons but if you're using another type of squash you may want to cut it into 1/3 inch / 1 cm cubes.
• 1 lb new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite size pieces
• 8 oz tempeh, cut into 1/3 inch / 1 cm strips and then into bite size pieces
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cup destemmed and chopped kale
• 1/3 cup roasted pepitas or pumkin seeds
• 2/3 cup cilantro 

1.  Preheat your oven to 400 F / 205 C. Whisk together the olive oil, miso and curry. Place the potatoes, zucchini and squash, and tempeh into a large bowl and toss them with about 1/3 cup of the miso mixture until they're evenly coated. Turn the bowl onto a baking pan, lined with foil if you'd like, and cook for about 25-30 minutes, tossing once or twice along the way, or until the vegetables have browned. Make sure to watch the veggies and tempeh closely the last few minutes because they can burn pretty quickly.

2.  While the veggies are cooking, whisk the lemon juice into the remaining miso mixture. You can use the same bowl you used to toss the veggies in (holla for fewer dishes!). Toss in the kale and work the dressing into it vigorously with your hands. After a few minutes of doing so you should see the kale slightly wilt; that's when you know you're massaging it properly.

3.  Once the veggies are done, toss them in with the kale. Add the pepitas and the cilantro and give everything one last toss. We ate this warm but I suspect it would be great at room temperature too.