Tempeh with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Source: sauce based on Cooking Light, Tempeh based on recipe from The Modern Vegetarian

For the Tempeh:

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons mirin (rice wine)
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
8 ounces tempeh, cut into cubes

Peanut Sauce:

1/4-1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chunky natural peanut butter
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1-2 teaspoons chile paste with garlic
2 garlic cloves, minced

*Note - you can add any sauteed vegetable you like. Red bell pepper or snow peas would go nicely. I used zucchini - not something I would normally pick, but it's what we had on hand at the time.

To prepare tempeh, in a bowl, whisk together sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, mirin, ginger, and garlic.

Arrange the tempeh in a single layer in a wide sauté pan. Pour the marinade over the tempeh and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Uncover, raise the heat, and cook until nearly dry. (My pan kept going dry before 20 minutes was up, so I kept adding water - tempeh needs to cook to get rid of the bitterness.) At this point, the tempeh may be refrigerated, tightly wrapped, for up to a week.

For the sauce, mix all of the ingredients, except water, in a small saucepan, whisk to combine, and warm over low heat. Add water to achieve desired consistency. Heat to a simmer, then pour sauce over tempeh and heat through.

Serve over your favorite rice. I used brown basmati, but white basmati or jasmine would work well too.

According to Mastercook - Per Serving (assuming 5 servings): 543 Calories; 20g Fat (32.0% calories from fat); 21g Protein; 73g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 744mg Sodium.

I talked about this recipe HERE.