Ingredients

• 1/3 cup natural, unhydrogenated peanut butter
• 1/3 cup tamari or shoyu soy sauce
• 1/3 cup honey, light brown sugar, maple syrup, or thawed, undiluted frozen apple or pineapple juice concentrate
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 4 to 6 cloves garlic, quartered lengthwise
• About 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger (optional)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste or ketchup
• 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or 1 fresh serrano or jalapeño pepper, de-stemmed
• Juice and grated zest of 1 orange (optional, but good)
• 12 to 14 ounces drained, sliced traditional water-packed firm or extra-firm tofu or tempeh
• Vegetable oil cooking spray

Instructions

1. Combine the peanut butter, tamari, honey, apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, chipotle, and orange juice and zest in a food processor and buzz until the ginger is finely chopped.
2. To use the marinade, place the tofu in a nonreactive bowl or zip-top bag and pour or spoon this luscious mixture over it. Refrigerate the tofu, covered, overnight.
3. The next day, preheat the oven to 375°F and generously spray a nonreactive baking dish with oil (I use an 8 or 9 by 12-inch deep glass baking dish).
4. Place the tofu and its marinade in the baking dish, spreading the marinade as needed so both sides of the tofu slices get a good smear of it. Bake, turning once, until fragrant, firmed up, and golden to deep brown in spots with the marinade considerably thickened, about 30 minutes.