Yesterday, the weather report on NPR said it would be a high of 80 and sunny. But when I ventured out on my lunch break to return eight overdue library books, it was grey and cold(ish). The weather, combined with the book return, made me feel gloomy. These were the books I'd carried around with me since last Summer when I began translating Fanny Rubio. And their renewal limit was up.
So, I returned them. And yes, I can check them out again. But this return felt like a first major step of many more to come. The steps of closing out our lives in Chicago. They're sad steps.
Thankfully, by the time I left work, it was near 80 and sunny. I made this quick stir fry in the kitchen with the window open, and we ate it on the porch. Porch life=the life. There must be porches in Pennsylvania. And I know there is tempeh. I rejoiced in the grocery store when we spotted it.
Marinade
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 jalapeño, minced
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup mirin
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Combine the ingredients above in a sauce pan over medium low heat and whisk until the sugar dissolves.
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 cup loosely packed shredded savoy cabbage
8 ounces tempeh, cut into strips
Pour the marinade over the carrot, cabbage, and tempeh. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Then cook all in a wok, or large saute pan, over high heat for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce cooks down a bit and the tempeh is warmed through.
Serve over rice. Top with toasted sesame seeds and chopped scallions.
(this recipe with thanks to The Vegetarian Times and Gourmet)
2 comments:
I don't think I'll go vegetarian anytime soon, but this one looks good enough for me to try it. The key here actually is 'barbecue' so I'm hooked already. And quite frankly this looks really good for a vegetarian recipe.
You could certainly use meat in place of the tempeh in this dish, if you wanted. See the gourmet recipe I linked to; it uses beef. But for a vegetarian version, the tempeh is delicious! For a smokier taste, it would also work to cook this dish on a grill (but in a pan of some kind to hold onto the sauce). Happy barbecuing!
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