10 Easy Homemade Soups

Vegan or Not, Awesome Plant Proteins

Full Article here from Mind, Body, Green

My Top 7 Sources of Plant-Based Protein

BY RICH ROLL

I say it all the time. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not only possible to optimize your health on a plant-based diet; when done right, I actually recommend it.

But where do you get your protein?

I field this question constantly. Despite deeply ingrained but misleading conventional wisdom, the truth is that you can survive without meat, eggs and dairy. Believe it or not, you can actually thrive, and never suffer a protein deficiency. Because no matter how active your lifestyle, a well-rounded whole food plant-based diet provides more than enough protein to satisfy the body’s needs without all the artery-clogging saturated fats that dominate the typical American diet.

I speak from experience. As a vegan endurance athlete, I place a high tax on my body. And yet my plant-based diet has fueled me for years without any negative impact on building lean muscle mass or recovery. In fact, at age 45 I continue to improve and am as fit, healthy, and strong as I have ever been.

Here’s a list of my top-7 plant-based foods high in protein:

 

1. Quinoa: 11g Protein / Cup

A grain like seed, quinoa is a high protein alternative to rice or pasta, served alone or over vegetables and greens. It provides a good base for a veggie burger and is also a fantastic breakfast cereal when served cold with almond or coconut milk and berries.

2. Lentils: 17.9g  Protein / Cup

Delicious, nutritious and super easy to prepare. Trader Joe’s sells them pre-cooked and I’m not afraid to just eat them cold right out of the package for lunch or a snack on the run.

3. Tempeh: 24g Protein / 4 Ounces

A fermented soybean-based food, tempeh is a healthy protein-packed alternative to it’s non-fermented cousin tofu. It makes for a great veggie burger and doubles as a tasty meat alternative to meatballs in pasta, or over brown rice and vegetables.

4. Seitan: 24g Protein / 4 Ounces

An excellent substitute for beef, fish and soy products, one serving provides about 25% of your RDA of protein. But not for those with gluten sensitivities, as it is made from wheat gluten.

5. Beans (Black, Kidney, Mung, Pinto): 12-15g Protein / Cup

I love beans. Great on a veggie burrito, in chili and soups, on salads or over rice with vegetables, beans of all varieties are a daily staple of my diet.

6. Spirulina: 6g Protein / 10 grams

A blue-green algae, spirulina is a highly bioavailable complete protein containing all essential amino acids. At 60% protein (the highest of any natural food), it’s a plant-based protein powerhouse that finds it way into my Vitamix blends daily.

7. Hemp Seeds: 16g Protein / 3 Tbsp

With a perfect ration of omega-6 and omega-3 EFA’s, hemp seeds are another bioavailable complete protein rivaled only by spirulina. A simple and great addition to a multitude of dishes, from breakfast cereal to salads to smoothies to vegetables and rice.

Creamy Scrambled Tofu with Fresh Herbs

Tonight was productive. I watched Lars and the Real Girl (incredible by the way, why Ryan Gosling does not have a national holiday named after him is beyond me), planned some recipes to make this week, juiced, went to a meditative but also physically challenging yoga class, perused for the perfect thank you card, found the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe I need to test out on my office before mailing to a dear friend in Chicago, and now I am in bed with a cookbook and some fictional reading to ease my mind before I have to get up and do it all over again. Tomorrow should be exciting though because I am going to a happy hour at one of my favorite places in Philadelphia, Tria, with some college friends, Andrew and Allyson, and maybe I can catch a yoga class before a late movie. Even though I am very very sick of Philadelphia, it is home, and I need to explore as much of it as I can before saying goodbye to it once and for all. I am not sure when that will be, but I never imaged living here for a long time. It isn’t where I want to put roots down, and maybe that is normal for someone who is 23 and can’t imagine being rooted down anywhere, but living here for most of your life really makes it one small town instead of a city. It is the perfect place for some people, it just isn’t the perfect place for me. It’s taken on that charmless charm that only comes about after staring at something too long. You stop seeing the beauty of it. To fix this little dilemma of me underappreciating my little town city, I made a list of happy hours to hit soon with one of my crazy gorgeous best friends and decided to take advantage of the free Art Museum nights coming up.

My family does not eat much of my cooking. They adore my baking mostly because it is sweet and they are suckers for that sort of thing, and surprisingly enough they also like my lightened up baking.

My mom doesn’t enjoy most of my plant centric foods, and she would rather slap a small child than drink one of my green smoothies, even though she needs it more than any other family member. This is one dish she can’t get enough of. Her arteries are thanking her. So for all your picky friends, this one is a winner.

Ingredients

1 package silken tofu

Assorted fresh herbs, I used thyme, parsley, cilantro

Juice of one lemon

1 dollop plain greek yogurt

Chevre, about 3 ounces, or any other soft creamy cheese

1/2 cup jarred red peppers, rinsed

Freshly cracked black pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions

Drain silken tofu and cut into rectangles, and then halve them. Preheat skillet and add olive oil. Add tofu and all ingredients except pepper and cheese. Cook through, about six minutes or until the tofu is browned and golden. Add pepper and cheese and serve with a side of fresh spinach salad or wheat toast.

Good as a breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Sesame Seed Teriyaki Tofu

Ingredients

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

2 tablespoons low sodium low fat teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon water

1/2 block extra firm tofu, drained and cubed

Directions

Mix teriyaki sauce with water. Spray baking sheet with PAM and place cubes on sheet to bake for 25 minutes, 12 minutes each side at 375 degrees. Brush cubes with the teriyaki sauce and water mixture. Top with sesame seeds. Serve!

 

Cheers!

Lemon Mustard Baked Tofu

Baking tofu is my new obsession. I love the process of draining it and then re-draining it and then watching it become a completely different texture. I found the method off of a Whole Foods site, and it is not hard. You can adapt it to your tastes like I have, but the basic method is simple.

Baking Tofu:

2 plates

5 sheets of paper towel

2 heavy objects

1 block of extra firm tofu

Directions

Drain as much water as you can from the tofu. Wrap in paper towel and place in between two plates with a heavy object on top, and repeat the process twice or three times as necessary, waiting forty minutes between each draining. Cut into triangles or cubes or slices.

 

Lemon Mustard Sauce

2 tablespoons whole grain mustard

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Pepper

1 teaspoon olive oil

Mix all of the ingredients together and brush on the tofu. Bake on 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Cheers!

 

Kale Tofu Patties

Green, soft, and delicious.

Ingredients

1/2 block firm tofu

2 cups kale, chopped and rinsed

1 teaspoon minced garlic in water

Pepper

1 egg, plus 2 teaspoons water, lightly whisked

2 artichokes, minced

2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs or whole wheat bread crumbs

1/4 cup parmesan, grated

1 teaspoon olive oil

Nonstick Pam

 

Directions

Chop the firm tofu finely and add to kale. Add the pepper and the artichokes, the breadcrumbs and the egg, all mixing well as you go. Add parmesan. Add olive oil and work the mixture until it is all finely mixed. In a nonstick pan, spray with Pam, and shape mixture into patties.Fry one minute on each side until egg cooks through and keeps patty together. This may take some practice, but it is a great recipe to know because you can adapt it into so many different ways.

Tofu Scramble with Artichoke Hearts, Mushrooms, and Spinach

This is great for a clean meal that will leave you feeling full for hours!

Ingredients

1 cup of tofu, cubed

2 artichoke hearts in water, diced

1 cup spinach

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

3 tablespoons of garlic water

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Directions

Saute the tofu, artichoke hearts, mushroom, garlic and spinach in garlic water. Serve.

 

 

Great with a mesclun salad with fennel, or quinoa and brown rice.

 

Enjoy!

 

Brown Rice with Lemon Garlic Broccoli and Seared Tofu Triangles

This is a filling dinner or lunch! I love brown rice and this combination is just fabulous. Tell me if you think of anything new!

Ingredients

1/4 cup brown rice

1/2 cup frozen broccoli florets or fresh broccoli

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/8 block firm tofu, cut into triangles

1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic

Pepper

1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

Boil the brown rice according to package directions. Add broccoli and lemon juice to water and let simmer. In a seperate pan, add garlic and olive oil. Heat and toss in the tofu triangles. Add pepper. Combine rice mixture and tofu mixture and heat through.

Cheers!

Sriracha Brushed Tofu Triangles

Want an update on tofu? This one tastes amazing if you like spicy food! Spicy foods make your burn more calories so try it and add more or less sriracha depending on your tastes!

Ingredients

1/2 block tofu cut into five strips, cut each strip into triangles diagonally

1/8 cup sriracha

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Directions

Brown in a pan with the olive oil and serve on a bed of spinach with steamed beans!

Cheers!