Tempeh Satay

If you’re a vegetarian who used to eat meat, you might occasionally miss specific tastes, sigh over certain menu items in restaurants for which they provide no veggie equivalent. For me, satay is one. And here’s a tempeh dish that pleased my meat eating husband. Between the two of us, we polished off an entire package of tempeh for dinner, even with peanut noodles and broccoli in addition.

Another advantage of tempeh that occurred to me during dinner tonight, one which might not be obvious to most people, is that it is softer than a lot of other foods. It’s a lot softer than the crackers, for instance, that I thought I might snack on, and many other bread products for that matter. If I still ate meat, that would have required a lot of chewing. The broccoli might have been a challenge, except Wayne kindly steamed it into submission. I have never been so grateful for over-cooked veggies. Fresh Chinese egg noodles in sesame-peanut sauce, posed no problem either.

Yeah, jaw pain–Damn you TMJ! I don’t feel like I’m stressing out, but my jaw joint seems to be telling a different story. I guess starting up a business could do that to a person, even if it’s joyful work, bringing hula hooping to my area.

It’s amazing how many different foods require chewing. Fortunately we’ve got creamy squash soup and yogurt in the fridge. Also, gin and tonic. And I’ll be doing some hooping. Hopefully by my next post, I’ll be back on solid food again.

Tempeh Satay

• 1 package tempeh, sliced and steamed

Marinade:

• ½ small onion, minced
• juice of one lime
• 2 tsp minced ginger
• 1 TBS minced garlic
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• 2 TBS brown sugar + 1 TBS agave nectar (or 3-4 TBS brown sugar)
• 2 TBS soy sauce
• ½ cup water
• 1 TBS canola oil

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together.
2. Marinate the tempeh for at least a half hour, overnight if you’ve got the time.
3. Arrange the tempeh in a single layer in an oven safe dish and bake for half an hour at 375 °F, basting occasionally.
4. Serve with peanut sauce and Thai cucumber salad.