Tuesday, August 11, 2009

We are becoming Vegetarians!......well, kinda, sorta….

Many years ago I was a casual Vegetarian. I stuck to a veggie diet pretty much, but when I craved a burger or steak, I didn’t deny myself. And that was about 2 times a year. I have always liked that style of eating, but have grown away from it as I have gotten older.

As everyone knows by now, we are primarily PROTEIN people. I have to have a minimum of 60 grams of protein and Tom has to have a minimum of 80 grams of protein daily.

Lately, Tom has been having problems eating meat. It upsets his stomach and often sends him to “driving the big white bus”. And I have become less enamored with meats as well.

Sue has been hunting high protein, vegetarian recipes. Last night we did a tofu recipe that was pretty tasty. And I have hit the web for other veggie options that have higher protein numbers.

Tom dislikes…see, I was polite….Beans. Any type of beans except for Green. :::SIGH::: Sue and I LOVE beans. I could live on baked, or black, or navy beans. Baked, refried, sautéed, soup, stew, you name it, I love it…..no beans for us…. We will have to do protein other ways. Not that I do not stick beans in my pantry and eat them when I feel like it, but then we are not eating as a family and that is the only meal we can eat together during the week.

So….all you vegetarians out there…..if you have a good veggie recipe, please email it to Sue or me. The higher the protein, the better…..and psst….no beans!

T

6 comments:

Chloe said...

I'm vegan, so I've had to pay more attention to my protein lately, so I'll give this a shot... (Though I'm of no use with getting protein through milk, eggs or cheese, sorry!)

I can cook tofu in a million and one ways. I had a BBQ tofu sammich tonight, actually!

Typically, I *sneak* protein in wherever I can.

For instance, silken tofu (which comes in yummy flavors as well as plain) can go in smoothies or desserts, which is a good way to up the protein in foods like that.

Also, I try to use high-protein grains or grain substitutes. For instance, quinoa. Per quarter cup dry, quinoa has 6g of protein whereas the brown rice in my pantry has 3g.

And I love farinata - a flatbread made with chickpea flour (I know, I know, beans. SORTA...) But per quarter cup, a bean flour like garbanzo (chickpea) flour has 6g of protein whereas the King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour in my pantry has 3g.

Both of those things are easy to substitute and contain twice the protein of their counterparts.

Sneaky protein is a fave of mine. It adds up! :)

I'm gonna experiment with TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) this week, because I've heard there are some good recipes. (If it weren't so darn hot out, I might try it in chili.) I'll let you know if I have an successes. It's got 12g of protein per quarter cup dry.

And I'll get back to you with more protein ramblings later, I'm sure.

~Chloe, getting hungry again.

Fire God said...

I highly recommend giving these sites a gander. As another nail in veghead's coffins now soy and soy products are not so good :(

http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/soy.htm

http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/index.htm

http://www.naturalhealthstrategies.com/dangers-of-soy.html

T said...

Woo Hoo!!

Barely got the post out and 3 good responses already!

We have a great veggie cookbook. And I have been to 101 cookbooks.

Chickpeas are fine....after all they are PEAS...not beans **G**

T

Anonymous said...

Same anon as above, just wanted to mention that if chickpeas are okay, I have found you can substitute them for just about any other bean called for.

I like beans in general, but just love garbanzos. Plus, I always end up with many, many cans of them in my cabinet, since if I'm out shopping and they're on sale I'll just grab a couple. So I often sub garbanzos for other beans that I don't have in the pantry, and never have had poor results.

Anonymous said...

Japanese Tofu burgers
(can be served on buns or with the sauce below & salad)

Makes 3

300g tofu (not the silken one)
100g chicken mince
1/3 leek
3 shiitake mushrooms
1 small knob of ginger
1 egg yolk
1tbs cornflour
1tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sake
1/2tsp soy sauce
salt & pepper to taste 

For sauce:
3tbs water
2tbs sake
2tbs mirin
1 1/2 tbs soy sauce
A little cornflour mixed with water to thicken

For the burgers:
Drain the tofu well and chop veggies finely.
Mix everything together in a bowl.
Divide into 3 and shape into patties.
Fry in a fry pan with a little oil until golden on both sides.

For the sauce:
Mix all ingredients except cornflour in a pan and heat. Turn heat off and add cornflour mix. Stir throughly and heat until thickens. Pour over cooked hamburgers.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I forgot to mention that you can use the tofu burger mix and wrap it up in cabbage leaves and make cabbage rolls. It's a handy recipe!