March 16, 2016

Tempeh Broccoli Skillet with Cheesy Ale Sauce

Name: Tempeh Broccoli Skillet with Cheesy Ale Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 1/2 cups); 1/4 teaspoon salt; black pepper; 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil; 8 oz. tempeh, cut into 1/2-inch cubes; 10 ounces broccoli florets; 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese; 2 teaspoons all purpose flour; 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard; 6 fluid ounces beer (I used Boundary Bay Scotch Ale); 1/8 teaspoon salt; black pepper

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Comfort food. It means something different to all of us. Macaroni and cheese is a favorite for many, or a freshly baked piece of homemade bread…still moist and steaming because you couldn’t wait to slice it…schmeared with butter. Maybe a perfectly warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie. Or three. Those are all undoubtedly emotionally soothing, but for me, cheese and potatoes fall somewhere near the top of my list, too. Creamy and salty and toothsome, any incarnation of cheese and potatoes really hits the sentimental spot. However, when eaten alone they’re lacking nutritionally somewhat as a complete meal, so today’s recipe brings tempeh and broccoli to the party to make a full-on main dish.

Let’s talk nutrition for a moment. Together, the tempeh and cheese boost the protein level to 25 grams per serving, which is quite respectable. Also, vegetarians (and non-vegetarians) will be pleased to know that 1 serving provides 30% of the Daily Value for calcium and 15% for iron. I think that officially qualifies as a nutrient-dense dinner, and we haven’t even added side dishes yet! And, if you’re concerned about potatoes and their carbohydrate content, you might be interested in some recent research suggesting that cooking, cooling, and reheating starchy foods improves our response to them. So, this would be a wonderful dish to enjoy as leftovers the next day.

You might think that spending 45 minutes on dinner is quite a commitment…and you wouldn’t be wrong. I found it just seems to take that long to get the ingredients chopped and prepped and then to get crispy brown edges on the potatoes and tempeh which adds to the whole comfort food vibe. Luckily, as you near the end of preparing this comforting concoction, I think you’ll be surprised at how very quickly the cheesy ale sauce comes together.

Any recipe is just a starting point or an idea for a dish you’d like to eat. Feel free to simplify here and modify there to make it your own. If your family doesn’t like broccoli, you can sub another favorite vegetable. And I feel confident it’s a pretty failsafe recipe. You could use tofu instead of tempeh and red potatoes instead of russets if that’s what you have on hand. I’d love to hear how the dish ends up looking and tasting in your kitchen.

Comfort food definitely has a place in any diet, but it doesn’t have to be an excuse to completely throw caution to the wind, break all the rules, and forget about nutrition altogether (although that’s nice sometimes too). How cool if you could have both at the same time! I think you can: whole foods, prepared thoughtfully and scrumptiously, that provide emotional satisfaction and a little nourishment. I would totally sign up for that.

Have you found a way to boost the nutrition profile of a favorite comfort food, so that it’s a sorta healthful choice?

This post was originally published in 2016. It has been updated with new photos and slightly revised recipe instructions in January 2023.