friday night citrus

There is a bowl on our dining room table that has been filled with citrus since Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday weekend at a house in Sonoma with friends. Back with us came lemons from the tree in the front yard (and a couple of oranges from the neighbor's!). Our bowl has contained waxing and waning oranges, lemons, and limes ever since. Tonight's menu incorporates citrus in every dish.

Tempeh is something I've recently fallen in love with. It's cultured soy that has a very different texture (denser?) and taste (nuttier) than tofu. The Complete Guide to Nutritional Health highlights tempeh as one of the superfoods for its immunity boosting and cancer/heart disease preventing properties. Tempeh contains no saturated fats and is one of the few vegetable products to contain vitamin B12.

My plans tonight are for orange tempeh served over brown rice (cooked substituting half of the water called for with freshly squeezed mandarin juice to continue the citrus theme), perhaps mixed with some chopped parsley and with a side of roasted broccoli. Recipes below. Happy Friday!

Orange Tempeh

Inspired by Heidi Swanson (www.101cookbooks.com), modified based on ingredients on hand

1 c. orange juice (I used freshly squeezed mandarin)

2 tsp. tamari

2 Tbsp. mirin (chinese cooking wine)

2 tsp. maple syrup

2 cloves crushed garlic

tempeh, cut into bit size pieces

olive oil

Mix together orange juice through garlic and set aside. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Fry tempeh on one side until it starts to brown (about 5 minutes). Flip and do the same on the other side. Pour sauce over tempeh and simmer, flipping the tempeh a few times, until the sauce thickens (about 15 minutes). When serving, spoon extra sauce over the tempeh and a splash of freshly squeezed lime juice.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

(It's still not as good as at Black Bottle, but I'm going to keep trying!)

broccoli, chopped

1/4 c. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

lime juice

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Chop broccoli and put in a bowl. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat the olive oil and garlic in a small saucepan over low heat for about 10 minutes. Add red pepper and heat for an additional 5 minutes. Add oil mixture to broccoli and mix well to combine. Squeeze juice of half a lime into bowl along with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Toss to combine. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.