Guilty

I’m guilty of never really doing anything with tempeh. I think I remember brushing it with barbeque sauce and baking it a time or two before – but never really giving it the attention it deserves. Most often, I’d just pan fry it and call it done.

The other day, while flipping through ED&BV I read Dreena recommend boiling it before doing anything with it to remove any bitterness.

Well, I’ve never thought tempeh was bitter, so I just found it intriguing and moved on.

Yesterday, while wanting something a little different for lunch, I found hot sauce glazed tempeh in Veganomicon and decided to give it a go.

Franks: my weapon of choice.

I saw that they, too, started off with boiling the tempeh, though also explained that it helped tempeh to better absorb the marinade. I was far too hungry to actually marinade for any length of time, but I went with it anyway.

I am definitely still on pre-daylight saving’s time, by the way. I’ve been having lunch at 11:30 and dinner at 4:30. Well, today I just wanted dinner at 4:30. I wasn’t about to leave work because my body’s clock is an hour ahead of the actual one.

Anyways. Back to the tempeh at hand. I boiled my tempeh, and don’t know if I can ever go back. It is so tender, succulent, and…well…buffalo-y!

Although – I also tried a new brand of tempeh. A local brand called “Rhapsody.” So maybe I’ve just been eating sub-par tempeh and I’m finally having really good stuff? But we’ll just say it’s a really good recipe and technique, because I’m sure it is that, too.

I, like every other college student on campus, used to be a major buffalo chicken freak. I’d say fanatic, but that’s putting it too lightly. I still don’t know whether I actually just wanted to go with the flow of things (since I’m a wimp when it comes to spicy things) or if I appreciated the burn back then.

There was something about pretending a certain restaurant’s buffalo chicken pizza wasn’t spicy, even though it was burning your tongue off as you lied through your straight white teeth. Having people admire your spicy-buffalo-chicken eating abilities was just the cool thing to be. I can’t say I get it, I’m just explaining it.

The Veganomicon recipe is easy, too. Simply boil the tempeh and then mix it with your hot sauce of choice, some garlic, spices, oil, and fry/bake/broil – your choice. And the results are impeccable. I only made a half batch, but I already know what I’m doing with the rest of the package of tempeh tomorrow. I had a buffalo tempeh sammie yesterday and today, and a buffalo tempeh bulgur salad for dinner tonight.

buffalo tempeh (& marinade), bulgur and red onion

Not only that, but – when it’s as bitter and blustery outside as it was today, I appreciate the speecey-spicey! I thought I was going to blow away. No lie. We have snow on the ground. Even a little bit is too much at this point, ad this is even more than a little bit.

I worried about my poor Teddie all day long – I didn’t think it was supposed to be snowy and blustery all day, so I just left him with his rain sheet instead of a blankie. When I pulled him out of his pen to blanket him on my way home, he was a little confused as to what his momma was doing with him in the pitch darkness, but really eager to find out, too!

goober.

Other things: sugar cookie sleigh ride overnight oats. I went there. That’s Chelsey’s homemade sunflower butter crumbled over top (doesn’t it look like brown sugar?!) – I love how crumbly it is – makes every bite perfect!

Do you like spicy things? What is your hot sauce of choice?

And do you ever “do” a lot with tempeh or just leave it be?