2clovesgarlicfinely minced or 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1teaspoonliquid smokeoptional but highly recommended
1tablespoonolive oil
2tablespoonsmaple syrup
Optional to thicken sauce: 1 1/2 tablespoons of corn starch whisked together with 1/4 cup of water
1/2-2/3poundsugar snap peasor snow peas*
Rice for serving**
Instructions
Prepare the tempeh by slicing it into small triangles. You could also do it into cubes as well, I just like the look of the triangles. See photo and video above for how I cut this.
Make the marinade by whisking together the soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, garlic, liquid smoke, olive oil, and maple syrup in a shallow bowl. Toss in the tempeh and let marinate for 30 minutes or even a few hours.
When ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
Line the tempeh pieces on one side of the baking sheet and pour about 1/2- 1 teaspoon of the marinade on each piece of the tempeh. Reserve ~1/4 cup of the marinade for the veggies. Instead of adding the marinade to the tempeh now, you can hold it back and use it to make a sauce at the end which is what I did.
Bake tempeh for 10 minutes.
While the tempeh bakes, prepare the sugar snap peas by tossing them in a bowl with about 1/4 cup of the marinade. After the tempeh bakes for 10 minutes, flip the pieces over and then add the sugar snap peas to the other side of the baking tray. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the peas are softened.
If you want to make a sauce, whisk together 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water. Mix the remaining marinade and the cornstarch slurry in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. It'll go from liquid to a thick sauce all of a sudden so make sure to watch it.
Remove the tempeh and veggies from the oven, top with the sauce, and let cool slightly before serving over your favorite grain and ENJOY!
Notes
*You could use any vegetable here that you wish but be sure to check bake time to make sure that everything is done at the same time and you don't end up over cooking the tempeh**I served mine with basmati rice but feel free to eat it with whatever grain you prefer. Quinoa is great in this dish!