Cut the tempeh into cubes or strips. Squeeze the orange and cut some of the fruit into segments.
Stir the orange juice with the soy sauce and sesame oil and leave the tempeh to soak in it briefly. Halve the chicory lengthways, cut out a little of the core if needed and brush the cut sides with maple syrup.
Toast the pumpkin seeds in a large frying pan without any extra fat until they smell fragrant and start to pop. Then take them out.
Fry the chicory in the same pan, brushed side down, until the cut sides are a deep golden brown. Then turn and finish cooking briefly.
Take the tempeh out of the marinade and fry it all over in the pan. Pour in the rest of the marinade and let it reduce briefly, then fold in the orange segments.
Arrange the chicory on plates, top with the orange tempeh and finish with the toasted pumpkin seeds.
Good to know
This dish lives on contrast: bitter, sweet, salty and fresh. The chicory gains depth in the pan, while the tempeh stays nice and juicy.
Swaps
Tempeh → plain tofu (milder, also with plenty of protein). Pumpkin seeds → walnuts (more omega-3 fatty acids). Maple syrup → date purée (more of the fruit's own nutrients than refined sugar). Sesame oil → olive oil (more monounsaturated fatty acids).
Allergens
Contains soya and sesame, and pumpkin seeds matter too if you don't tolerate them; for children it's the bitterness rather than the ingredients that makes it special, and during pregnancy thoroughly heated tempeh and washed citrus fruit are usually fine. Contains: gluten (soy sauce).
