creative savv

https://www.womensweb.in/2016/08/vegetarian-iron-rich-foods/

I often think it must be boring to read about what I cook. But I did want to give suggestions from what works for meatless meals my family as a sort of springboard for ideas, yours and mine. So, I've divided my family's favorite meatless meals into categories based on the major protein source for each meal.

Tofu

Tofu-Veggie Lasagna This dish is something that I think about as I fall asleep at night. It's a garden vegetable lasagna. When my daughters were first born, the hospital sent us home with a dinner basket of a frozen vegetable lasagna and a bottle of sparkling apple cider. It wasn't long before I felt compelled to replicate the lasagna, adding my own twist to the dish. The greens can be frozen spinach or garden (or market) spinach, kale, chard, beet greens, collards, or broccoli. I also like to add about a half of a large carrot grated. I'm lactose intolerant, so I can't have a lot of soft or fresh cheese at any one time. That led me to try tofu as the "cheese" filling, sometimes all tofu, sometimes blended with part cottage cheese. So, I mash 16 oz of firm tofu and season with lemon juice, salt, and garlic. I then add the chopped veggies and stir together. I don't use any meat in this lasagna. Instead, I layer lasagna noodles with the tofu-veggie filling and a marinara sauce. I top the entire casserole with a mixture of grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. This makes a 9 X 13-inch baker of lasagna with about 140 grams of protein total and 8 servings, with about 17.5 grams protein per serving.
Chocolate-Tofu Silk This is not a meal, but a high-protein end to a meal, with about 7.5 grams of protein in a serving (if dividing the recipe into eighths).
TLT Sandwich Using strips of fried tofu, layer tofu, lettuce, and tomato on whole grain bread, like a BLT only subbing in the fried tofu for the bacon. One-sixth of a 1-lb block of firm tofu, cut into slices and fried has roughly the same amount of grams of protein as 2 regular slices of pork bacon, about 6.5 grams. Two slices of whole wheat bread adds 7 grams of protein, for a sandwich with about 14 grams protein.

Lentils

Sloppy Lentils on Buns I make a Sloppy Joe filling with tomato sauce, green peppers, onions, garlic, chili powder, mustard powder, beef bouillon, salt, pepper, and bit of cornstarch, plus about 1 1/2 cups of cooked lentils and 1/2 cup of cooked barley for 4 people. Serve on large burger buns. Each sandwich contains about 17 grams of protein.
Lentil-Barley Marinated Salad I toss together cooked lentils and cooked barley (in about a 2:1 ration lentils to barley), with diced celery, minced shallots, and a mustard vinaigrette. Chill for a couple of hours. Grams of protein would depend on serving size.

Garbanzo Beans

Hummus and Fry Bread Fry bread is a yeast dough, such as French bread dough, that is formed into rounds about 4 to 5 inches in diameter and about 1/2-inch thick. I fry them in a skillet with a little oil to prevent sticking (these are NOT deep-fried). We like the fry bread spread with homemade hummus. I make hummus in the food processor with cooked garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, salt, oregano, parsley, and olive oil.
Tabouli The tabouli recipe that I follow comes from Jane Brody's Good Food Book. The recipe calls for prepared bulgar wheat, cooked garbanzo beans, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, shredded carrot, diced tomatoes, diced cucumber, salt, and pepper. This is a favorite of ours in August, when my garden provides fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and parsley. It's a dish that is served cold, so this can be made in the cool summer morning hours, refrigerated, and served in the evening -- no heating the kitchen in the late afternoon.

Assorted Other Beans

Vegetarian Chili I make vegetarian chili, using beans, barley or TVP (for "chew"), canned tomatoes, green peppers, the usual seasonings, then top with shredded cheddar cheese and fried/baked corn tortilla strips. It's very good, even without meat. The barley or TVP provide that chewy sensation that would otherwise come from ground beef.
Vegan Shepherd's Pie The "meat" in this shepherd's pie can be a vegan meat substitute, rehydrated TVP, or cooked beans. I like to use about half TVP/half cooked beans or lentils. We think this is quite delicious and don't miss the meat at all.
Bean Tacos/Tostadas filled with black beans or refried pintos, marinated corn (in a lime vinaigrette), avocado, tomatoes, bell pepper, shredded cheese, and drizzled with plain yogurt.
Bean and Cheese Quesadillas whole grain flour tortilla spread with refried pinto beans and shredded cheese, topped with second tortilla and toasted on a griddle.
Kitchen Sink Burritos flour tortilla filled with beans, rice, avocado, cheese, yogurt/sour cream, salsa, tomatoes, olives
Pasta Primavera made with spaghetti noodles, an assortment of sautéed vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, asparagus, green beans, carrots, onions, garlic), black olives, Greek olives or capers, cooked cannellini beans, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts or chopped almonds, basil and oregano -- all tossed together.

TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein

TVP Spaghetti
TVP (or lentil) Cabbage Patch Soup

Eggs

Egg Foo Yung
Garden Vegetable and Cheese Frittata
Garden Vegetable and Cheese Quiche
Skillet Huevos Rancheros with corn tortillas, black beans, eggs, chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic, seasonings, olive oil, avocado, fresh cilantro, lime wedges, cheese, hot sauce, and any extra veggies (such as zucchini or bell peppers).

Peanut Butter

Peanut Noodles using whole grain pasta, peanut butter, red pepper flakes, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, lime juice, and cilantro, topped with chopped peanuts.
Live and Learn's Curried Pumpkin-Peanut Soup topped with whole grain croutons.

Wheat Meat made from whole wheat flour (I haven't ever given this recipe, here. The texture is a lot like ground beef. It is high in gluten, so a very bad option for someone who needs to be gluten-free. But my family has enjoyed it over the years.)

"Salisbury Fake" This is a faux ground beef patty smothered in brown gravy.
Wheat Meat Breakfast Sausage Again, a high-gluten meat substitute, seasoned and formed into sausage patties.

Okay, so those are my family's favorites. What are your family's favorite meatless meals?

Thursday, May 7, 2020

The Meat-Eater's Guide to Crafting a Meatless Meal, pt 4: The Anti-Nutrients and Minerals

Our meat-heavy diets provide our bodies with much more than protein. Several minerals, including iron and zinc, are also made abundant to us through consuming meat. When eating less meat, we need to pay attention to how we're getting those other nutrients to make up for what is left out in our meatless meals.

The difficulty is that it isn't as simple as adding some spinach, beans, or whole grains to your diet to get those extra nutrients. Plant sources tend to be less bioavailable than meat sources for iron and zinc. I mentioned a bit about anti-nutrients yesterday and that they can impair the body's ability to absorb essential amino acids. In addition to interfering with amino acid absorption, anti-nutrients can also bind the uptake of minerals.

When we think of beef, one of the first nutrients that comes to mind is iron. Non-meat sources also contain iron. However, the form of iron found in plant sources (non-heme iron) is not as absorbable as the iron form found in meat (heme iron). Various compounds, substances, and minerals impair the body's ability to absorb the mineral iron.

Polyphenols (in tea and coffee), oxalic acid (in some berries, leafy greens like spinach, beet greens and chard, as well as chocolate and tea), phytates, inositol hexaphosphate, and polyphosphate (in beans, whole grains, and corn), phosvitin (in egg yolks), calcium, zinc, manganese and nickel (yes, there's nickel in some foods) can all inhibit the uptake of iron from plant sources.

We always think about vegetables like spinach as being especially high in iron. After all, Popeye got his extraordinary strength from a can of spinach. And if you look at a table of nutrients for spinach, it will indeed tell you that this vegetable has a lot of iron. It's just these anti-nutrients get in the way of the human body to access that iron.

Despite this, there are some super simple ways to increase your absorption of this vital mineral.

eat a food that is high vitamin C along with the plant-based iron-rich food. This can be as simple as serving orange juice with the meal, or sprinkling lemon juice over a bed of spinach, or serving a tomato sauce-covered pasta dish with the greens or beans, or adding some canned pineapple chunks or tomato sauce to baked beans, or combining cooked or canned beans with shredded cabbage and sunflower seeds as a slaw-type salad. Some vitamin C foods include strawberries, citrus, raw cabbage and broccoli, and tomatoes.
eat your iron-rich vegetables along with a small amount of meat, poultry or fish. It's unknown why this works, but the pairing of some animal flesh with the non-heme iron increases the bioavailability of iron for the plant-based food. This would be one of those less meat meals instead of meatless ones.
a little bit of sugar, especially fructose is said to boost iron absorption, as well.

Information on boosting non-heme iron absorption found on The Nest and The Mayo Clinic's website.

The mineral zinc is also not as easily absorbed from plant sources as it is from animal products. In addition to being found in seafood, lean meats, poultry, eggs, and dairy products, zinc is found in whole grains, soy products, legumes, nuts, and wheat germ.

These same plant foods that contain zinc also contain phytates (or phytic acid), the anti-nutrient that binds minerals and prevents their absorption. In particular, whole grains and legumes are particularly high in phytates. Phytic acid in itself is not a bad thing. In fact, there's growing research that indicates this anti-nutrient may inhibit tumor growth, help prevent cardiovascular disease, improve kidney health, and help the pancreas in insulin secretion. It may also give us that sustained full feeling after eating. But, if the diet is heavy in phytates with no mediation, it can bind minerals, such as zinc.

There are several things that can be done to reduce phytates in grains and beans:

for grains, yeast breads have less phytic acid than flatbreads, and the breakdown of phytates is even greater in sourdough bread (there's that sourdough again).
soaking beans and grains before cooking reduces phytates and other anti-nutrients. With beans, soaking overnight reduces more phytates than using the quick-soak method (bring to boil, shut off heat, allow to stand 1 hour).
fermentation is another good method of deactivating phytates. Using a sourdough is a form of fermentation. Rice can be fermented, too. Here's a tasty recipe for fermenting brown rice (scroll down through the article).
sprouting beans, grains, nuts, and seeds before using in recipes/baking decreases phytates.
consuming vitamin C-rich foods with phytate-containing grains, nuts, seeds, and beans can also improve zinc uptake.
as with iron, consuming a small amount of animal flesh along with the grains, beans, nuts and seeds can increase zinc absorption.

Information on increasing zinc absorption found on Precision Nutrition and The Mayo Clinic's website.

This sounds like a lot of information to digest to ensure adequate iron and zinc absorption. However, there is some overlap in the anti-nutrients affecting uptake of minerals and how to mediate them through simple dietary additions.

I predominantly use two methods in my own cooking to help with iron and zinc absorption. I add Vitamin C rich foods to meals with high plant-based iron and zinc content. And, we consume these plant foods alongside small amounts of animal flesh for less meat meals. I'll often add an ounce of beef, chicken, or pork per person to an otherwise vegetarian meal, such as a bean soup or rice and bean casserole. The little tidbit of meat adds satiety and texture to the meal, yes, but it also improves mineral absorption.

To a less extent, I also have also done some sprouting (as you know with my sprouted lentils), and I'm working with sourdough (fermentation of wheat) this spring during this yeast shortage. I also try to use the overnight soak method when cooking beans as mush as possible instead of the quick soak method.

Some quick lists for good foods to keep on hand. Read through and see which ones you might enjoy most.

Plant-based foods that are high in iron and good to keep in the pantry or fridge:

dried or canned beans, especially soybeans (and foods made from soy), lentils, white beans, kidney beans, chickpeas/garbanzo beans, cowpeas/black-eyed peas, and black beans
dark leafy greens, such as spinach, kale, chard, beet greens, and collards
whole grains, such as amaranth, teff, oats, wheat, and quinoa, and to a less extent, cornmeal, rye, and barley. Brown rice and couscous are at the bottom of the whole grain iron list on dietbly.com
nuts and seeds, especially pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, hemp, and flax seeds, but also cashews, almonds, pine nuts, macadamias, peanuts, coconut milk, pistachios (full list here)
potatoes (iron is mostly in and just under the skins)
tomato paste and dried tomatoes
oyster and white mushrooms

Non-meat foods that are high in zinc and good to keep in the pantry or fridge:

eggs
cheese
whole grains, particularly whole wheat as flour
wheat germ
soy products
legumes (especially cowpeas, navy beans, lentils, black beans, white beans, and green split peas, to a lesser extent garbanzo beans, lima beans, and kidney beans)
nuts and seeds (especially pumpkin, squash, and sesame seeds)
peanuts and peanut butter

Good vitamin C foods to keep on hand for mediating some of the mineral absorption issues:

bottled lemon and lime juice
canned pineapple
fresh or frozen bell peppers or strips
cabbage
canned, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, or tomato paste with which to make a sauce
orange juice

Next time, I'll wrap this up with some of my family's absolute favorite meatless renditions of meaty dishes. Till next time . . .

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Meat-Eater's Guide to Crafting a Meatless Meal, pt. 3

https://www.nutritionadvance.com/animal-protein-vs-plant-protein/

I'm going to take a bit of a detour in this post, as I feel I've overlooked something that's important when it comes to getting protein in our diets. This is the digestibility of different protein sources, how well the essential amino acids (the building blocks of protein that cannot be synthesized by the human body and must come from food) survive the digestion process. This is often referred to as the bioavailability of protein.

You've probably heard this already -- animal sources of protein (the flesh as well as eggs and milk products) are more accessible to the human body, while plant sources of protein (beans, seeds, nuts, grains, vegetable matter) are less accessible. Part of this is the amino acid composition of the plant material. You've probably heard that if you eat beans, you need to combine them with a grain in order to get the full spectrum of essential amino acids. In addition, plant foods contain certain anti-nutrients, naturally-occurring compounds which can block the absorption of minerals and amino acids. The result of both of these conditions is that plant protein is less bioavailable than animal protein.

Beyond this simplified distinction between animal and plant protein, within both the animal and plant kingdoms, the resulting foods each have their own unique rating of bioavailability for protein. I'm borrowing the following table and linking to the site (just under the tables) from where it came. This site has a reader-friendly article that explains all of this further if you want additional information.

The writer of the article explains that the DIAAS Protein Quality Assessment is the most recent and considered the most accurate method of rating protein availability. A score greater than 100 is considered "high quality." A score between 75 and 100 is considered "good quality/medium." And a score below 75 is considered "low quality" protein. As you can see, all of the animal sources of protein score in the "high" range.

By the way, milk protein concentrate is primarily casein, the protein building block in milk. Some people are allergic to or have a sensitivity to the casein found in cow's milk. Goat's milk and sheep's milk do not contain the same problematic form of casein, and are therefore more easily tolerated. Whey protein is a by-product of yogurt and cheesemaking. Even though both casein and whey sound like they are each only part of or a component of milk, they both contain all of the essential amino acids.

Looking at the table for plant sources of protein, you can see that the only plant source that comes close to animal sources is soybeans. Whole soybeans contain all of the essential amino acids, likely the main reason they have been featured so heavily in many vegetarian meat analogues. The scores fall to soy protein (I think they mean soy protein isolate, which is what TVP is made from), pea protein (often found in protein supplement powders), and chickpeas/garbanzo beans, all in the medium range. Yellow lentils and pinto beans are just below the threshold for a medium score.

While this assessment looks grim, for those of us who may find themselves eating a whole lot less meat in the near future, here's the good news. This scoring is based on the quantity of essential amino acids in individual animal or plant foods and doesn't take into consideration the practice of combining different types of protein foods, such as eating beans with a grain, beans with eggs, grains and cheese, etc.

According to this article, It's true that plant foods may lose about 10 to 20% of their protein availability due to those anti-nutrients and fiber. However, I would guess that most of us are capable of eating far more grams of protein than what meets the minimum for health. The other concern is the essential amino acid leucine. While plant foods like lentils do contain leucine, they don't contain as much of the essential amino acid as animal foods do. However, this is easily remedied by adding a small amount of an animal protein source, such as a bit of cheese, a little milk, or an egg to the meal that is prepared primarily using plant protein. Here are a couple of easy examples:

peanut butter on bread, with a glass of cow's milk on the side
refried beans in a flour tortilla for a burrito, with some cheese added to the filling
TVP spaghetti (as I used for illustration in the first post on this topic), topped with Parmesan cheese
or, one of my favorites, huevos rancheros, adding beans to the skillet along with the corn tortilla, then topped with an egg

The same article also mentions that of all of the plant foods, soy foods contain the highest amount of leucine. This would include tofu, soy milk, soy protein isolate (TVP and powders to add to shakes), tempeh, and edamame. In addition, quinoa and buckwheat (grains or pseudo-grains) also contain enough of all nine essential amino acids for the human body.

Finally, one last table, just for reference. This one readily identifies which foods to pair together to get the complete amino acid set for your body to use as protein when only consuming plant sources.

https://nutrition.org/protein-complementation/

We often hear about dishes that use complementary amino acids, such as beans and rice or peanut butter on whole-grain bread. This table shows which essential amino acid is deficient for the plant protein food, and in which foods to find it. Basically, beans go with grains, nuts, seeds, or corn. And vegetables (such as Brussel sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, avocado) find their lacking amino acid in grains, nuts, or seeds, but not in beans.

All of this goes back to what I said on day one of this topic, that I try to use 3 or 4 different sources of protein in every meatless meal that I prepare for the family. The TVP spaghetti meal -- pasta (grain), TVP (bean), Parmesan cheese (dairy), sourdough toast (grain). Okay, so the pasta and toast both came from grains.

With the Cabbage Patch Soup meal mentioned yesterday -- lentils (bean), Parmesan cheese (dairy), Yorkshire pudding (egg, dairy, grain), pumpkin pie (egg, dairy, grain).

Here's another meal, last night's Cinco de Mayo feast. My daughter made baked nachos, using corn tortillas (corn/grain), refried pintos (bean), cheddar cheese (dairy), TVP (bean), yogurt (dairy), and about 4 ounces, total, of ground beef (animal). That amount of beef meant that each of us ate 1 ounce of meat. In our house, we not only eat meatless meals, but we also eat less-meat meals. I sometimes use just a bit of meat in a meal to add to the satiety of a dish. This is another way that we deal with having less meat available, for whatever reason. For dessert, we had a Nestle Tollhouse cake (grain).

For additional information:
https://www.nutritionadvance.com/animal-protein-vs-plant-protein/
https://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/0419p30.shtml

The first article does a good job of explaining how protein foods are rated for their usability in the human body. The second article of the two provides an alternate viewpoint to the first article, in that the author of the second sees protein foods not as isolated individual foods, but as part of a larger diet that combines and complements various individual foods into a whole. Both are good reading and helped me understand how to make meatless and less-meat eating better for my family's health.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

The Meat-Eater's Guide to Crafting a Meatless Meal, pt.2

http://www.gallowaysnewwest.com/products/dried-beans-peas/

When you operate with a low grocery budget for a long period of time, one of the concerns that becomes deeply-rooted is how the budget will impact family members' health and well-being. Will this be enough for my family? Will everyone feel full? And more importantly, will they get the nutrients that they need? Do my children and husband have enough to eat? These thoughts have filled my head for many years. And since we've eaten meatless a lot more than I ever did growing up, I've had to pay extra attention to the protein content in our meals.

For most of us, you really don't need to do a bunch of calculations each day to ensure a good amount of protein in your diet. We can kind of use an educated guess whether or not a meal looks like it's got enough protein or not. It's pretty simple when you're serving an animal-based protein, like beef, chicken, or fish. We all know what a serving of meat looks like. With meatless meals, it's not always so obvious. My best trick in getting enough protein (without going crazy making calculations) is to simply bump up all of the meatless meals just a bit.

What do I mean by bumping them up? I try to add something extra to every component of a meal.

As I'm planning meatless meals, I make an effort to toss in some extras that pack some protein, like using an egg-rich Yorkshire pudding as the bread/starch side dish (adding 6.8 grams of protein for 1/5 of a recipe), choosing a high-protein vegetable like peas to go with an entree, or making a batch of milk-rich cornstarch pudding or a bunch of custard cups of egg custard for dessert, or adding a tablespoon of Parmesan to each serving (3 grams protein per tablespoon) or large dollop of plain yogurt on top of most anything (about 1 1/2 grams protein). Even a slice of pumpkin pie adds over 4 grams of protein. I aim for 3 to 4 different, good sources of protein in each meatless dinner. This pretty much ensures that I'm getting a balance of all of the necessary amino acids without having to look up tables and charts.

Here's how that might play out with my family.

My family loves broth-based vegetable soups, such as our fall favorite Cabbage Patch Soup (with about 15 grams of protein when made with lentils, add another 3 grams protein when topped with Parmesan). When this soup is on the menu, I often serve it with either wedges of Yorkshire pudding (almost 7 grams or protein) or open-faced toasted cheese sandwiches (adding about 10 grams protein), plus our favorite pumpkin pie (4 grams protein). This sort of simple soup and bread/sandwich dinner with pie dessert has 26 to 32 grams of protein.

I'd like to note, while mentioning lentils, some beans have more grams of protein than others. The best way to make this comparison of the different bean types is by grams of protein for every 200 calories. So, here's the list starting from the top with the most protein and working down.

lentils come in at number one for protein content. For every 200 calories, you get 15.6 grams protein
split peas, with 14.1 grams protein in 200 calories
large white beans, with 14 grams protein in 200 calories
cranberry beans and
kidney beans both have 13.7 grams protein in 200 calories
lima beans, with 13.6 grams of protein in 200 calories
black beans, with 13.4 grams protein in 200 calories
pinto beans, with 12.6 grams protein in 200 calories
and last in this little list --navy beans, with 11.8 grams protein in 200 calories

(information for this list courtesy of myfooddata.com)

That's a substantial spread in protein content between the top of the list and the bottom, a difference of 3.8 grams of protein in a serving. That's a little more than half of an egg's worth of protein, simply by choosing a different type of bean. Lentils are my preferred bean for their quick cooking. The extra protein is something of a bonus.

https://groovy-historian.com/2017/01/24/how-grain-shaped-history-by-the-hungry-historian/

While we're talking lists of best bang for the buck with protein and similar foods, I thought it would be interesting to look at a list of grains by their protein content.

kamut comes in at number one for protein. For every 200 calories, you get 8.7 grams of protein. Kamut is an ancient grain that is gaining in popularity. In my search for flour and whole wheat berries, I came across kamut in a couple of places online.
whole wheat pasta, with 8 grams protein in 200 calories. Pasta in general is high in protein
wild rice, with 7.9 grams protein in 200 calories.
teff, with 7.7 grams protein in 200 calories. Teff is another obscure grain that is gaining in popularity. While whole wheat flour was about sold out everywhere in April, I did see teff flour.
quinoa, with 7.3 grams protein in 200 calories. Quinoa is not a true grain, but it is eaten like a grain. Quinoa has all of the essential amino acids. You can cook it as a side dish, like rice, marinate it as a salad base, or add it to soup. It's one of my favorite "grains" for it's nutrition and versatility.
buckwheat, with 7.3 grams protein in 200 calories.
whole wheat flour, with 7.2 grams protein in 200 calories (the protein content does vary in wheat, but this is an average given by eatthismuch.com)
oatmeal, with 7.2 grams protein in 200 calories.
couscous, with 6.8 grams protein in 200 calories
all-purpose flour, with 6 grams protein in 200 calories
millet, with 5.9 grams protein in 200 calories
cornmeal, with 4.8 grams protein in 200 calories
brown rice, with 4.2 grams protein in 200 calories
white rice, with 3.6 grams of protein in 200 calories

Not a grain at all, but we eat potatoes in the same category as grains for side dishes. Potatoes have 5.27 grams protein in 200 calories, so slightly more than brown rice.

(information for this list from myfooddata.com)

This is interesting, right? While eating the same number of calories in your grain dishes, you can choose to get twice as much protein in each serving. By combining strong grain choices with bean choices, one could add as much as 8 or 9 grams of protein to a meal. That's as much extra protein as is found in 1.5 large eggs, without eating anything extra but just making stronger choices.

Before I go today, I wanted to point out a great calculator tool for recipes. There are a few different calculator tools, but I find this one to be very user-friendly. When I'm wanting to know any nutritional content for a home recipe, I can pop the ingredients into the tool, specify servings, and get the nutrients calculated for me per serving. I used it to calculate the protein for my mom's Yorkshire pudding recipe and the pumpkin pie that I often make.

Foods to include in the pantry (and fridge) for bumping up your meatless meals:

dried beans, especially lentils
canned beans
bean flour to use in baking, such as garbanzo bean/chickpea flour (11.8 grams protein in 200 calories)
whole grains (and their products), such as quinoa, whole wheat pasta, teff flour, oatmeal
Parmesan cheese -- doesn't have to be the fancy shredded Parmesan. The powdered stuff has protein, too.
Greek yogurt
eggs
extra firm tofu

Meat isn't only about protein content. When eating meatless, it's important to maximize all of the other nutrients that one normally gets from animal sources. Till next time . . .

Monday, May 4, 2020

The Meat Eater's Guide to Crafting a Meatless Meal, pt.1