Marinated Tempeh Steak

by Patty

Serves 2

Tempeh puts the meat into vegan without any blood being shed or rainforests cut down! Tempeh is fermented soybeans and in Asia, where it’s widely eaten, it’s known as bean cake - because of it’s texture, not the taste! It’s savory and each brand tastes somewhat different. I highly recommend the organic tempeh sold by Vincent Vegetarian Foods . Tempeh can be an acquired taste but this brand really melts in your mouth and is very inexpensive - a third the price of animal flesh. Tempeh is excellent food for vegans because it’s so high in protein (keeps you feeling full), low fat, NO cholesterol and contains B12. It freezes well, so I buy 20 frozen packs (225 g) from Vincents (ALV members get a 10% discount) and always have some on hand. You can marinade raw tempeh with whatever flavours you like.

Tempeh can be fried, crumbled, roasted, cubed, stripped and used as a main course, in a wrap, as a snack or in a salad. A really tasty product recently hitting the supermarkets shelves is called dynabites. These are tasty tempeh cubes in several flavors, a top favorite is bombay bites.

With this recipe you can make extra tempeh and use it the next day in a salad wrap

1 pack (225 g) organic tempeh
2 tbsp Tamari (or soy sauce)
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp canola oil
10 baby (chat) potatoes (the really small ones)
Vegan margarine
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
1 bunch of fresh asparagus
handful of pine nuts
cranberry sauce

Slice the block of tempeh through the middle to give you two thinner pieces, then cut these in half (so you have four square shaped patties). Mix the soy sauce with the garlic and marinate the tempeh steaks(as long as you’ve got – overnight is good). (Or if you’re in a hurry you can add the soy sauce and garlic over the tempeh in the pan while cooking.)

Heat a cast iron skillet (the most important item in my kitchen!) drizzle with canola oil and fry the tempeh till brown on both sides.

Steam the asparagus spears for a few minutes while roasting a handful of pine nuts in a hot skillet.
Garnish the asparagus with the pine nuts

Steam the baby potatoes until cooked, toss in an empty hot pan with 2 teaspoons of nuttlelex (vegan margarine) and the chopped parsley, serve immediately

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