Peanut Butter Basil Tempeh with Broccoli

Tempeh cubes are soaked in a garlic and ginger marinade and mixed in with stir fried broccoli, rich peanut sauce and fresh basil leaves.

If you love tempeh this dish is for you. If you don't love tempeh so much but would like to, this dish is for you. Finally, if you think you don't like tempeh, this dish is for you.

My husband thinks thought he didn't like tempeh. He doesn't hate it. He's always willing to taste test a recipe and will be totally honest if the tempeh is getting in the way of a fair evaluation. In this case he didn't realize he was eating tempeh. I wasn't trying to deceive him - I just figured I'd mentioned it or he had picked up on what I was doing in the kitchen. Anyway, I put a plate of this in front of him and he polished off about two thirds of it, praising the dish the whole time, before realizing it was tempeh he was scarfing down. When asked what he thought he was eating, he replied "I don't know."

Peanut sauce will do it every time.

Broccoli in combination with peanut sauce will do it even better, as the little florets soak up lots of peanutty goodness, making things extra delicious. And then there's basil. I have a tendency to gravitate towards cilantro and scallions in my Asain-inspired dishes. In this case I took the opportunity to try some basil instead, which goes particularly well with peanut butter. I guess my point is that, however you feel about tempeh, this dish has a lot to love, so you should try it out...uh, basically, no matter what.

5 from 2 votes

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Peanut Butter Basil Tempeh with Broccoli

Tempeh cubes are soaked in a garlic and ginger marinade and mixed in with stir fried broccoli, rich peanut sauce and fresh basil leaves.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 2 -3

Author Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

For the Peanut Sauce

• 2 tbsp. natural peanut butter
• 2 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tbsp. maple syrup or agave
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• ½ tbsp. fresh grated ginger

For the Tempeh

• 2 tbsp. lime juice
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tsp. fresh grated ginger
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1-8 oz. package of tempeh diced into ½ inch cubes
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

For the Broccoli Stir Fry

• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 medium broccoli crown chopped into florets
• ¼ cup fresh basil leaves packed
• cooked rice for serving

Instructions

Make the Peanut Sauce

1. Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl.

Make the Tempeh

1. Whisk together lime juice, soy sauce or tamari, ginger and garlic in a small bowl. Add tempeh cubes and toss to coat. Optionally marinade for 30 minutes.
2. Coat the bottom of a medium skillet with oil and place over medium heat. Add tempeh cubes, reserving marinade. Cook about 4 minutes, until browned on bottoms. Flip and cook another 4 minutes. Add marinade to skillet and continue cooking until liquid has cooked off, about 1 minute more. Transfer tempeh to a plate.

Make the Broccoli Stir Fry

1. Add oil to skillet and raise heat to high. Add garlic and broccoli. Stir-fry until broccoli is tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Return the tempeh to the skillet. Add peanut sauce and cook about 1 minute more, just until heated through and ingredients are incorporated. Add a few tablespoons of water if skillet becomes too dry. Remove from heat and stir in basil.

2. Serve over rice.