Grilled Chili Lime Tempeh Sandwiches

Eat Your Vegetables!'s Note:

This is a great summertime vegetarian sandwich from VeggieLife magazine. I add extra fresh lime juice and chili pepper sauce in place of the red pepper flakes. Check the Asian foods section of your supermarket for Thai peanut sauce. Cooking time does not include marinating time! Start marinating the tempeh the day before you plan to serve this.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil or 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 8 ounces tempeh, cut crosswise into 12 slices
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaf, chopped
• 1/2 cup thai peanut sauce
• 1/2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 4-inch lengths
• 1 teaspoon oil, if needed
• 4 large whole wheat pita breads, each cut into 2 pockets
• vegetable oil or cooking spray

Directions:

1. In a storage container large enough to hold the tempeh, combine marinade ingredients. Whisk well and add tempeh slices, tossing gently to coat. Close container tightly and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
2. In a large bowl, combine cilantro and peanut sauce, and set aside.
3. Transfer tempeh to a plate, then place asparagus in marinade. Toss to coat (drizzle in a bit of olive oil if necessary to coat).
4. Preheat grill on medium heat. When grill is hot, grill tempeh and asparagus until softened and well marked, about 5 minutes on each side.
5. When fillings are done, use tongs to transfer to bowl with cilantro mixture. Toss gently to mix.
6. Cut 8 squares of foil to fit pita pockets and brush lightly or spray with oil. Place pockets on oiled side of foil sheets. Divide fillings evenly between pockets and wrap tightly with foil.
7. Grill pockets for 2 minutes, then flip and grill for 2 minutes more.
8. Serve hot pockets in foil, unwrapping just one end to minimize dripping of fillings.

Reviews

[fluffernutter]

I wanted to like this,because I like tempeh and I like Indonesian. But the "ingredient pileup" -- seriously, asparagus? -- didn't help it, and the twice-grilled technique was time consuming and didn't add anything. And I didn't understand the 8-foil-squares but 4 servings technique. Does each person get two squares? And is 8 ounces of tempeh really going to serve 4 people? And it would have been just as good served alone as in a pita.