Hello friends of the Hive realm! I am posting something after too long. I'm tired and exhausted. Working in a busy restaurant in the summer is rough. Now some tourists have gone home, and the students are back to school etc.
I thought I could have more relaxation, however a staff member has left for a month so I have to pick up an extra shift. I can't seem to win.
Fortunately before he left Marc and I managed to squeeze in a two day camping trip. We spent those days outside. We enjoyed the air and nature, and cooking outdoors with fire.
Some folks in the world naturally have outdoor kitchens and know nothing else. I'm a city slicker with a studio apartment and no outdoor space.
For me cooking outside is a special experience, which I am sharing today.
I had tempeh in the freezer so I brought this along with our food items.
I decided to do a kind of peanut satay on the grill. There is a fire pit in each site with a grill on top.
I opted for sliced tempeh on skewers instead of cubes. Putting sliced tempeh on skewers is slightly more challenging then cubes. If it's done carefully it's not so difficult.
I brought along as many spices as possible and put things together while I went along. I wasn't using a recipe but tried to get a decent peanut sauce to marinate the tempeh. This was marinated over night. We had tofu that night which was a non blog post dinner.
Peanut sauce and tempeh satay
480 grams tempeh
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon chilly powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons cane sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 minced hot chilly
3 cloves minced garlic
1 inch minced ginger
2 tablespoons veggie broth powder
Water to add for desired consistency
This recipe is approximate. I taste and add according to my liking.
I know there are many ways to make a peanut sauce. I had to make due with what I had this day. In order to go to a grocery store I would have to take a boat to the mainland. We did this the next day for more supplies.
The sauce was good regardless of not having a fully loaded pantry with me.
This would sit overnight while we had something simple later.
I brought my propane stove and a small pot. With the other items I had brought along, I made a lentil stew to go with the tempeh.
Lentil stew
1 cup red lentils
1 carrot diced
1 medium onion diced
4 cloves garlic
2 chilly peppers
3 tablespoons tomato puree
1 inch ginger
1 cup chopped cilantro and stems
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon chilly powder
3 tablespoons veggie broth powder
Water to cover (4 cups or more)
Salt to taste
I brought along the world's smallest fry pan so it was a bit of a challenge to saute the items. I managed.
The onions, garlic and ginger were sauteed first, then spices. I used a neutral oil to fry.
The other items were added and cooked on low for around 15 minutes or so.
The lentils were added to the pan and cooked for around five minutes in the pan.
I had to transfer this to my little pot in order to add the water. It cooked on low for a while until the lentils were soft.
I decided to through in some cherry tomatoes that I had brought with me.
There is something satisfying about grilling things on a skewer. I even skewered some zucchini.
We waited for the logs on the fire to be hot, then added the tempeh to the grill.
The zucchini was added after the tempeh was cooked to our liking.
After removing the soup from the only pot I had, I boiled some broccoli and rice. I cooked the rice first and covered it to keep it warm.
The leftover peanut sauce from the marinade was quickly heated then added to the final plates.
I can say that tempeh on the fire is my absolute favourite way to have it.
I will have to wait another year to have it like this again, unless I can squeeze in a day at the park. Our winters last forever.
I feel like I'm still waiting for summer, but I find myself facing the soon approaching cold weather.
Oh well at least I had a two day getaway to be thankful for.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
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