Tempeh Fake’n Bacon

Tempeh Fake'n Bacon

• Servings: 3-4
• Time: 30 min
• Difficulty: Easy
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Fermented foods. I knew next to nothing about fermented foods, until recently when I started having major gastrointestinal issues and fermented foods are said to be the way to go. It started last summer with my huge kale salads so I switched to huge spinach salads and eventually I had to switch to huge cabbage salads... and then to lettuce and soon it was all cruciferous vegetables, green beans, and zucchini. To be blunt, a few hours after eating one of these healthy foods my husband is forced to run gagging out of the room screaming HOW CAN SOMETHING SO FOWL COME FROM SOMEONE SO PRETTY. Marriage is always romance (haha). My gut bacteria got tired of eating the same green vegetable everyday for weeks until it started screaming at me! I've always taught people to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables but I didn't listen to my own advice. Yes, it's totally excessive to eat 10-12 cups of kale every single day for 5+ years, but for some reason I thought that's what I needed to do to be healthy! So my gut bacteria is messed up. This experience is teaching me to be a little more relaxed about food and since I haven't eaten kale since last summer I'm learning to eat more variety in my diet. In addition, I'm experimenting with fermented foods because they're said to be really good for your gut. I've discovered that I really like sauerkraut, and pickled beets. I even experimented with making my own pickles out of cauliflower and apple cider vinegar. It's a new arena and I'm slowly learning more and more. One cause for alarm is that consuming large amounts of fermented foods might increase your sodium intake far above sodium regulations. Moderation is key, and reducing your sodium in other areas. One of my new favorite fermented foods is definitely Tempeh! It's surprisingly low in sodium and it's made entirely out of soy beans which means it contains all of the fiber and nutrition of whole soy beans! You can't get veggie meat more simple than that! All cultures around the world have their own form of fermented foods that they consume regularly! In Korea they eat kimchi, in Japan they eat miso, Greece has its yogurt, Germans like their sauerkraut, and that's just the beginning.(links for more information below). So start consuming fermented foods (in moderation), it could save your gut. The first fermented food on your list could definitely be, TEMPEH!