Baked Tempeh Sticks with Mustard Marinade (and A Dog’s Life)

Before I tell you the story of the little transgression that gave rise to this recipe post, I want to remind you that my nutritional choices are based on my own subjective experience, which is dynamic, and can change over time. Therefore, it’s not medical advice, or even advice that strictly conforms to any one plant-based doctor’s eating plan. It’s just my account of living my experience of daily life and what I like to eat or cook to stay healthy. Beneath it all is the framework of Dr. Swank’s Diet for MS, again, with my own personal twists: eating vegan and cooking without oil. Sometimes, though, I post a recipe which contradicts with the subtitle of my blog banner, which reads:

Living Well with MS. Fat Free. Gluten Free. Soy Free.

This is one of those times. So I’ll tell you the story from my point of view, and also offer you a soy free option if you are so inclined.

As it turned out, in the 24 hours I celebrated my 60th birthday by eating out twice, both the Proper Plate and the Harvest Bowl I ordered had baked tempeh sticks as components. And as is always the case when I go to a public place, Romeo was at my side. He is a pro at waiting patiently while we humans sit and eat. As he’s gotten older, though, I make sure to bring him something soft to nap on, since the cement floors of trendy eateries can be very hard and cold for a streamlined aging body type like his. When we’re at home, like any good friend, he often waits to eat his own food until I’m eating mine. I’m so used to this, that even though it’s the last thing I should be doing in terms of being professional, I couldn’t help but slip him a few black beans and bites of tempeh as part of my birthday celebration. I kind of did it without thinking, like you’d share tastes of what you ordered with a friend.

I don’t usually cook tempeh at home, but Mike and Kelly make it a lot, and I’ve come to look forward to eating it at their house. Since I’ve moved to Portland, I’ve also discovered I can buy some that is locally made at the Alberta Cooperative Grocery near where I live. Since I enjoyed it so much over my birthday, this week I decided to try some of this local tempeh out at home. I threw together this mustardy marinade, and cut up the sticks to coat them in it while we went for a walk before dark.

Romeo is not a voracious eater, and he rarely actively lobbies me for whatever it is I’m cooking. That was mostly the former” job” of our golden retriever Tinne. She loved winter squash, and would lay herself down next to the back door near the stove and literally wait for it to come out of the oven. She’d eat the skins and anything else I’d give her. (She also used to steal pears off my pear tree.) I still sometimes think of her fondly and her digestive system that was akin to a garbage disposal when I’m scooping cooked squash out of it skin. Romeo, on the other hand, is largely indifferent to squash. He prefers sweet potatoes, but even those he rarely lines up for.

But this week after those clandestine bits of birthday tempeh, I discovered what he WILL line up for in the kitchen–the smell of marinaded tempeh baking in the oven. As I’ve written about before, though I don’t often post recipes using soy, as I get older, the extra calories, protein and plant estrogens in edamame, tofu, and tempeh seem to be very good for me.  One of the reasons I rarely buy tempeh, though, is that I don’t always want to eat it all myself. But now I know I won’t be eating it all by myself anyway, even if I’m the only human in the house. In fact keeping it around for more than a day or two might end up being the new problem.

Whether or not you are a crazy dog lady like me, sneaking food to your service dog in the restaurant when you know better, I’m sure you will enjoy this savory slightly spicy sweet low fat oil free marinade. If you’d rather use tofu, or even cauliflower steaks, I think you could spread slabs of those with this marinade and bake it too. I’m not sure the soy free tofu recipe I’ve posted would hold up to this kind of baking, but you could give it a try if you’re game.

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