This sticky, sweet-sour dish is one of our favorite ways to prepare tempeh. It comes together as quickly as a pot of rice and Roasted Broccoli for a healthy weeknight dinner.

Combine in a small bowl:

Cut into ½-inch-thick strips:

Warm in a large skillet over medium heat:

Add the tempeh to the skillet and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip and brown the second side. Add the tamarind sauce to the skillet and allow it to simmer until reduced and thickened, flipping the tempeh once to caramelize both sides, about 3 minutes. When the tempeh takes on a deep mahogany color, remove from the heat. If desired, sprinkle with:

Serve with:

TVP (TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN)

Unlike tofu and tempeh, textured vegetable protein, or TVP, is the result of modern industrial agriculture. Also known as soy meat or soy chunks, this protein-rich meat substitute is made from defatted soybeans—the main byproduct of soybean oil manufacture—which are extensively processed, and spun or extruded and puffed to have a chewy texture. They are sold in dried chunks, slices, flakes, or granules, which will keep for at least a year in a closed container at room temperature. TVP is also rehydrated and used in the formulation of refrigerated and frozen meat-substitute products, often with added seasonings and other ingredients to enhance its texture, such as wheat gluten.

Dried TVP must be cooked with a liquid of some sort, and is quite bland without aggressive seasoning. Granules and flakes swell to twice their volume when cooked, taking on the texture of ground meat. To equal the volume of 1 pound ground meat, soak 1 cup textured vegetable protein; use it alone or in combination with ground meat in meat loaves, spaghetti sauce, chili, tacos, Sloppy Joes, or any other recipe where ground meat is used. A meatloaf made with textured vegetable protein will be softer than one made with meat but will firm up to meat texture if refrigerated overnight.