Getting Your Protein from Plants
Have you ever wondered where a person following a vegetarian or a vegan diet gets their protein? Some may think a vegan and/or vegetarian diet lacks protein. Yes, that can be true if there is no prep work. What would a plate possibly look like if you don’t have the standard meat to build the rest of your meal off of? If you need some guidance or just want some education, you’ve come to the right place!
Growing up, in the Midwest especially, the focal point of any dinner was what meat we were having, and everything else would follow. Now my mindset has shifted since I started including plant proteins. Some of the most common plant proteins are lentils, tofu (soy), and beans.
There are four main types of lentils: brown, green, red/yellow, and specialty. Lentils can be used to make burgers, put in soups and salads and even make dips and spreads with them. There are plenty of recipes on google to play around with. A ½ cup of cooked lentils contains 9 grams of protein whereas 3 ounces of cooked chicken contains 27 grams. Yes, significantly less but that’s where meal planning comes into play to hit your protein needs for the day.
Tofu is categorized as silken, regular, firm, extra-firm and super-firm. Silken, the softest type of tofu, can be compared to a young white cheese. And super-firm tofu, which is my personal favorite, has the texture closest to meat. You can use tofu in place of eggs for an egg scramble, cube for a meat replacement in stir fry’s and one of my go-to’s, tofu Bahn Mi Sandwiches! A ½ cup of raw tofu contains 10 grams of protein (1).
If you’re not adventurous with some of those options listed above, the easiest and probably most appealing to incorporate are beans. There are plenty of beans out there and can be easily incorporated into your meals. Whether it’s dips, meat replacements, or baking them into brownies (yes, I’ve tried them and they are delicious!), beans can be added as a substitute or addition to your meal to pack some protein. A ½ cup of pinto beans contains 9 grams of protein.
A plant-based plate most likely will not resemble your standard meat and potatoes plate but it will be more of a “blended” plate. One could start as simple as making chickpea pasta noodles with veggies! A quick weekday dinner that takes very minimal prep work.
Whether you’re curious about plant-based, wanting more education or wanting to implement I’d advise trying one recipe a week. Your body will only thank you for including more plants in your diet as it is super beneficial for lowering our cholesterol, improving gut health and keeping those bowels regular. Your wallet will also thank you as plant proteins are typically more cost effective than animal proteins.
