Apparently I like tempeh...

I had previously hated tempeh. I had it for the first time a few years ago and thought it was pretty awful, but kept trying it every once and a while to give it another chance. When I was grocery shopping last week I wanted to try something we didn't eat often, and was pretty sick of tofu, seitan and faux meats, so I picked up a package of tempeh and thought I'd give it a try.

Here's the thing. I really liked it. Or maybe I just really liked the way I made it - cooked in a marinade of garlic, olive oil, coriander, cilantro, cumin and paprika. The marinade, called charmoula, is a standard Moroccan marinade for fish. The recipe I used as a base was from Fresh Food Fast and the suggestion was to pair it with a vegetable couscous with different kinds of greens. Instead, I made a simple couscous by sauteeing a chopped red onion in some olive oil, adding 1 cup of water, letting it come to a boil and then pouring in 1 cup of dry couscous and letting it sit, off heat and covered, for 5 minutes. I also cooked up some broccoli and that was it. This is possibly one of the easiest meals I've made in a while.

Charmoula baked tempeh (adapted from Fresh Food Fast)
1 1/4 c water
1/2 c olive oil
2 t sweet paprika
2 t cumin
2 t coriander
4 cloves garlic, chopped
8 oz tempeh

1. Whisk the water, olive oil, spices and garlic in a bowl until thoroughly combined
2. Cut the tempeh into strips and place in a sautee pan
3. Pour the marinade over the tempeh and over medium heat let it come to a boil
4. Lower heat and cover, letting the marinade simmer
5. Continue cooking until the marinade is absorbed (add more water if it looks dried out)