I don’t define my ‘diet’ very strictly, but if people really push for an answer, I say that I’m a plant-focused or plant-based meat-eater. That doesn’t mean I eat meat everyday – in fact, some of my favourite recipes are vegetarian. I try to keep my lunches vegetarian during the week especially (more for the environmental benefits of reducing animal protein consumption than ethical reasons as I’ve spoken about before), and as I’m a gal who strength trains and is quite active, I am always keen to try difference vegetarian protein sources to ensure I’m hitting my daily requirement. I’ve told you guys about my love of smoked tofu, but recently I found tempeh in a health food store, and decided to mix it up and try something new! On the same day, I picked up a deeelicious jar of Life Force Crunchy Almond Butter in their charity pop-up store, and figured why not combine the two somehow! The result was a tasty nutty and sweet marinaded and baked tempeh, which I added to my Chickpea Kale Salad for lunches!

If you have no idea what tempeh is, I’ll tell you – it’s a soy-based food that is made from cooked and slightly fermented soybeans, originating from Indonesia. It’s therefore similar to tofu in a way, but has a higher protein and fibre content due in part to the fermentation process that creates it. My only issue with it (and tofu actually) is that it tends to be only really found in health stores, and as a result can be a bit expensive to eat regularly. Hopefully as plant-focused eating becomes more mainstream that might change!

Recipe (For 1 Block of Tempeh)

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
• 2 tbsp almond or peanut butter
• 2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 pack of Tempeh

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C (fan oven) and line a baking tray with tinfoil.
2. Chop the tempeh block into 1/2 inch chunks and set aside.
3. Take a medium sized bowl, and add the marinade ingredients to it. Stir them together with a spoon until combined, especially the nut butter.
4. Add the chopped tempeh to the bowl, and stir the marinade onto it, ensuring each piece is coated.
5. Tip the tempeh chunks onto the baking tray, and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, turning half way.
6. Remove from the oven, et voila!

Enjoy guys! Tag me if you try this recipe at home (@theirishbalance – remember you could use it for tofu or even a white meat like chicken too if you wanted!

Ciara 🙂 x