I bought tempeh at Publix the other day because I had never attempted to cook with it before (in fact, I think I had only ever tried it once or twice before), but I knew the almighty Veganomicon would steer me in the right direction as long as I had all the ingredients. I settled on the Hot Sauce-Glazed Tempeh recipe because once upon a time I tried some pretty delicious buffalo-style tempeh and this seemed like it might be similar. Truth: I think it turned out better. First thing I had to do was cut this weirdly-textured-soy product in half lengthwise and again diagonally. Then I brought a pot of water to a boil, turned it down to a simmer and dropped the tempeh pieces in for 10 minutes.

Next came the part I’m generally way too hungry and impatient for: marinating the tempeh for an hour. (60 whole minutes of not eating?! Oh, the horror!)
Here’s what goes in the marinade:
1/2 C vegetable broth
2 T soy sauce
2 T olive oil
1/4 C hot sauce
3 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t dried oregano
1/8 t cayenne pepper

While waiting for the marinating to be done, I decided to distract myself by roasting butternut squash. (See how I do it here. I love me some butternut squash now.) Meanwhile I flipped the tempeh several times throughout the hour, lest one side be more tasty than the other.

Next I grilled the marinated tempeh on a cast-iron pan coated in olive oil for 5 minutes on each side over medium-high heat. Clearly the first side I grilled got a little burned, but it didn’t taste like it at all. When the second side was almost done sizzling for 5 minutes, I spooned some of the marinade over the pieces and let it cook for an additional 30 seconds (and proceeded to choke on the massive amount of hot sauce steam that blew directly into my nostrils.)

Then I chowed down and was full after eating just two of the tempeh pieces. NOM.

Have you ever tried to cook with tempeh?