Sesame Noodles with Broccoli and Tempeh

I'll admit that I'm a bit obsessed with tempeh. When I'm having trouble feeling satiated, there's just something about this Indonesian ingredient that makes everything seem so much more satisfying. It has a great mouthfeel, is high in protein, and takes on flavors beautifully without betraying its natural taste. When I set out to make this recipe the first time, I was really interested in finding something that really highlighted all this natural goodness, while also incorporating some other subtle, but powerful flare. And I think I did okay, if I do say so myself.

Like everything I post on here, this is also a very easy and quick recipe to pull together. It takes a few more dishes than I'm normally happy with (a whopping 3), but if you need some bigger pans to fill up the dishwasher this is a good way to go. It also keeps very well, almost gets better with time, and is equally as satisfying served chilled as leftovers.

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Ingredients

• 0.25 cups of tamari or soy sauce

• 2.5 Tbsp agave, maple syrup, or another thick sweetener

• Juice from about half a lime

• 0.25 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 clove garlic, finely minced

• 2 tbsp sesame seeds, plus a bit extra for garnish

• 1 package noodles of choice (I used buckwheat soba, because it's so tasty and good for you to boot! For this particular cooking, I only used 2 of the 3 bundles in the package and that worked just fine, but if you want to add more, then have at it!)

• 4ish cups broccoli florets (about 1 bunch of broccoli, but frozen works here, too, if you want to save time - preparation is no different)

• 1 tbsp oil (I used coconut, but any medium- to high-heat oil will do)

• 1 package (about 8 oz) of tempeh, sliced into 0.5 inch thick pieces

Instructions

1. Whisk together all the ingredients from tamari sauce through sesame seeds in a small bowl, and set aside.

2. Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a boil, then add the noodles. Cook these suckers according to package directions, and add the broccoli when you have 3 - 5 minutes left. Fresh broccoli and frozen should take about the same amount of time - I've done this with both types, and only notice a difference if I leave frozen broccoli out to thaw like some oblivious schmuck. Drain when finished.

3. While all of this is going on, heat your oil over medium to high heat, depending on what oil you've selected. The size of your pan will really depend on what you have and how patient you are. Ideally, you'll be able to fit all of the tempeh in at once, but if you can't, no sweat. You can do this next bit in batches.

4. Add the tempeh to the pan and let it sit until browned on one side. Personally, I like to move them around a bit to make sure they don't stick, but that's because I'm neurotic. Feel free to trust yourself and your cooking tools. Once one side is browned, flip them over and brown the other side. When finished, toss some salt and pepper into the pan, shake about, and add a squeeze of lemon juice.

5. In a large bowl (or the pot your cooked the noodles in), add everything together (noodles, broccoli, tempeh, and sauce) and toss to combine. If you're feeling extra fancy, you can top with some sliced green onions and/or basil. Garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds if that catches your attention, and enjoy!

Interesting note: When making pasta, as in Italian noodles, you often see that you should bring a pot of salted water to a boil, but this particular isn't seen as much in other styles of cooking. Why is that? A couple of reasons. First, "back in the day," many Italian cooks used seawater for their boil - it was the easiest body of water to access in many parts of the land mass, whereas other global regions had more access to things such as lakes and rivers. As we all know, the ocean is filled with saltwater, and as Italian pasta evolved it did so with this as the reality. More importantly, however, it's not at all uncommon to see the incorporation of pasta water into the final dish (usually the sauce) in Italian cooking. By using the already salted water, it was easier to conserve a previously fairly scarce resource. This isn't so in other kinds of cooking. Asian and Asian-inspired sauces (such as this), for example, don't often include water, and instead rely on other sauces, oils, and ingredients for their flavor. In a lot of cases, salting a pot of water that you're going to cook non-Italian-style noodles in won't hurt your dish, but it won't help it either.