Meatless Monday! Orange Glazed Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe

The other night my husband and I were watching one of those "How It's Made" shows on TV. The particular episode was about tempeh. Have you cooked with tempeh? I only have one other time and it was a long time ago. I made a meatless loaf out of it; it had shredded apples and carrots and I remember it being quite yummy.

So, we're learning about tempeh and how it's fermented with a fungus called Rhizopus oligosporus. I turned to by husband and jokingly said,

"I Love Rhizopus oligosporus!"

"I'm gonna make a tempeh recipe." He said, "Don't feed it to me." I proceeded to tell him he's eaten it before but he says it doesn't count since it was a million years ago.

Anyway, here's the recipe I made from 101 Cooks:

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (3-4 large juicy oranges)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons tamari (or soy sauce)
1 1/2 tablespoons mirin
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
roughly 10 ounces of tempeh (or extra-firm tofu)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lime
a handful of cilantro (coriander) leaves

Put the orange juice in a small bowl. Squeeze the grated ginger over the bowl to extract the juices, then discard the pulp. Add the tamari, mirin, and maple syrup, ground coriander, and garlic. Mix together and set aside.

Cut the tempeh (or tofu) into thin-ish, bite-sized pieces, and if working with tofu, pat dry with a paper towel.

Put the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the tempeh and fry for 5 minutes, or until golden underneath. Turn and cook the other side for another 5 minutes, or until golden. Pour the orange juice mixture into the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced to a lovely thick glaze. Turn the tempeh once more during this time and spoon the sauce over the tofu from time to time.

Serve the tempeh drizzled with any remaining sauce and a squeeze of lime, with the coriander scattered on top.

I served this over rice with some sauteed broccoli rabe. It was our first time eating this bitter green, too, so it was quite the adventurous night. We ate the whole meal, but we weren't thrilled about it. I think the orange glaze was delicious. The tempeh was a little bitter (or something) and pairing it with the bitter greens wasn't the best idea. I will definitely make this recipe again, but I'll do it with tofu instead.