Recipe: Marinated Tempeh Sandwiches

My thanks to my Twitter pal Ruthie Knox for the basis of this recipe. If you're not familiar with tempeh (pronounced "tem-pay") here's what Wikipedia has to say about it: Tempeh is a traditional soy product originally from Indonesia. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form, similar to a very firm vegetarian burger patty.

Photo credit to ifood.tv

For the "meat" of the sandwich you'll need:

1 8 oz. package tempeh (available in many major grocery and natural food stores)
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup water
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder
dash chili powder

Plus your choice of toasted sliced bread, hamburger roll, wrap, etc.

Plus your choice of condiments.* I recommend:

ripe avocado, sliced
cheddar cheese, sliced
brown mustard
sprouts
tender greens (I like baby spinach)
oven-roasted tomatoes from that pesto quinoa recipe
any other thing you fancy

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. To prepare the tempeh: cut into fish-stick-sized slices, cutting diagonally for maximum surface area. (I got about 18 slices out of my package.)

3. Create a marinade by mixing soy sauce, water, and spices in a medium baking dish. Add tempeh slices, coating with marinade and arranging so each slice is equally submerged in the dish.

4. Bake uncovered for 8 minutes.

5. Drain excess marinade and serve slices on your choice of toasted bread with whatever condiments float your boat.

6. Store extra tempeh in fridge for future sammiches.

* The manfriend and I did a taste test this evening, and the winning combo was toasted sprouted bread with the marinated tempeh, avocado, a bit of cheddar, roasted tomatoes and pesto. A lot of garnish, but it really worked—cool avocado, hot spices, sweet tomatoes, savory pesto, sharp cheese. Nom.