Name: Basic Oven-Baked Marinated Tempeh
Yield: Serves 3 to 4 as a main course, possibly many more if used in a stir-fry, spring rolls, pasta dish, or casserole
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons tamari or shoyu soy sauce; 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar (white, cider, balsamic, rice, red- or white-wine — whatever you have on hand or goes with the flavors of whatever your end-use recipe is); 1 teaspoon Pickapeppa (optional but good) (see tip, below); Any combination of the seasonings (see note; optional); 1 tempeh cake (8 ounces), cut in the size or shape appropriate to use; Cooking spray

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Although the marinade sounds similar to several of those given for tofu, it's just different enough that, when used on the completely different tempeh, you have a wholly distinct, and wholly delicious, dish. This is a base preparation. Use the baked tempeh as part of a component plate, sauced or unsauced, cut up as the filling for spring rolls with tempeh, added to a vegetable stir-fry, or as the centerpiece of a hearty sandwich.

Traditional Indonesian flavorings for such a marinade are salt water (in lieu of tamari or shoyu soy sauce), fresh pressed garlic, and dried coriander.

Crescent Dragonwagon shares her tips with Epicurious:

• A fruity, brown sauce from Jamaica, Pickapeppa is available at www.pickapeppa.com.
• Toasted sesame oil, also known as Asian sesame oil, is a dark brown condiment that's not interchangeable with regular sesame oil. It's available in Asian markets and many grocery stores.

Recipe notes

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