Garlic Sage Tempeh

This dish was so amazing, my mouth was actually watering just now as I wrote the title for this post. My boyfriend Leo actually said “this is the best tempeh I’ve ever had in my life” when I made this. Coming from Leo, who has been vegetarian for 10 years and has eaten many a tempeh dish, that’s a huge compliment. So I figured the recipe was blog-worthy. (What is tempeh?)

The inspiration for this tempeh came to me because, oddly enough, 2 different people gave me gifts of sage last week. One of my co-workers came to my desk with a small bundle of fresh sage that he took from a meeting – it was the garnish on the sandwich tray and he thought I’d like to have it. Super nice. The other bit of sage came from Anthony Anderson (Raw Model) at his event at Organic Avenue this past Wednesday. He was giving a talk on perennial permaculture and building your own “food forest” – and he gave us some dried sage from his garden. I haven’t eaten sage since the winter, and suddenly 2 people give me free sage in the same week? There must be some significance to this – I think it has to do with sage being known to clear out negative energy and make room for positivity and new beginnings to flow in. That rules!

Sage is also one of my absolute favorite herbs to cook with. I just love the smell of it, and the earthy flavor it gives to dishes. As a bonus, herbalists use sage to treat menstrual cramps, intestinal gas, diabetes, memory problems, menopausal hot flashes, and more. Yay sage!!

Ok, I’ll get onto the recipe now. Please keep in mind I never really use exact quantities, so bear with me. I try to provide enough pictures so you can get the idea.

Here’s what I used:

• 1 package of organic flaxseed tempeh
• A few leaves of dried sage
• 1/2 a yellow onion
• A few shakes of garlic powder (I used garlic powder because I realized I was out of fresh garlic. You can use fresh garlic instead, but it came out pretty nice with the powder)
• A few shakes of tamari
• A few shakes of ume plum vinegar
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Small spoon of miso
• Small spoon of tahini

First, cut your tempeh into small squares.

Put your tempeh in a pan and let it brown for a few minutes. You can use oil or just water.

Add chopped up onion and a generous few splashes of tamari.

Add a few shakes of garlic powder (or 2 cloves of chopped fresh garlic).

Stir in a small spoon of miso.

Stir in a small spoon of tahini.

Add a few shakes of ume plum vinegar. If you don’t have this, you can try using a little red wine vinegar or even a little bit of balsamic vinegar would probably be fine.

Add the juice from 1/2 a lemon.

Get a few leaves of dried sage, crumble them up, and add them to the tempeh in the pan.

Mix around in the pan for a minute or two until all ingredients are well combined. Don’t let the sage cook too long, or it will burn and lose its rich fragrant flavor.

Voila! Serve over brown rice, quinoa, or your favorite whole grain. Enjoy :)