yummae!

I've been experimenting with tempeh, which is basically a cake of fermented soybeans. It has a wonderful aged flavor, almost like a cheese, but is really a flavor all its own. I don't cook meat in my house, mostly because I get so grossed out by it that when the time comes to eat it, I feel ill. It something to do with playing with the muscle of a dead animal that used to have a face and be cute that turns me off to it.

As a consequence, I have been working at finding protein replacement foods so that I don't get sick, etc. from lack of good protein, and in that pursuit discovered tempeh. If you've never had it (or heard of it), you should really try it sometime. It doesn't replace a good steak (yes, I still eat meat when it's prepared somewhere else and I don't think too hard about it) but it is really very tasty. Here is a great recipe to try it out if you're interested:


Ginger-Garlic Tempeh with greens

1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids
1/4 cup orange juice
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp. crushed red peppers
10-in. segment ginger root
8-oz package tempeh, cut in cubes
1 T sesame or olive oil
1 onion, diced
greens (like kale or chard)

1) Grate ginger root, then squeeze the juice off into a bowl and discard the pulp
2) Add tamari, oj, garlic, peppers, and tempeh to the juice; marinate for 1 hour at room temp.
3) Prepare greens and onion
4) Heat oil in skillet, then add onion and tempeh. Cook until the onion is tender.
5) Add greens and cook 3-4 more minutes
6) Enjoy! Put it on rice if you feel like it. I like it plain, but whatever.

(The tempeh pictured has flax seed added; that's what the black specky things are.)