Monday, September 14, 2009

Where do you get your protein?

I was recently asked this incredibly inane question over a glass of wine, along with: ".... so what do you eat?"

As I've said before, I've never worried about getting enough protein. I just eat what I want to eat and the variety is such that I am well nourished. I have discussed my diet with a nutritionist 3 years ago, and last year I had a detailed analysis done of what I had eaten in a week and I had more than enough of everything, including protein. But, to answer the question, here are a few examples.

Chickpea omelette. Sort of a cross between the vegan omelette from Vegan Brunch, and Kumudha's Indian Vegan Omelette. This was really easy to make, and was really just a mixture of peanut butter, miso, chickpea flour and water, plus some leftover sauteed veggies. Then cooked like a pancake.

Garlicky veggies & beans, based on a recipe from Wild Morsels. Eggplant, potato and kidney beans simmered in a tomatoey sauce, with roasted garlic and fresh dill stirred in at the end. I had mine with a garlic chappati.

Ethiopian tofu with sweet potato chips and some raw beetroot&nori salad. The tofu was basically the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance for 'Ethiopian seitan with peppers', but I changed the spices up a bit to match my experiences with ethiopian food--ie I added fenugreek and took something else out, though I can't remember what.

Where do you get your protein?

9 comments:

Vaala ◪ said...

Why do people always ask that question?! Drives me a little crazy. Anyway, I have to say that chickpea omelette looks and sounds really awesome.

Susan said...

Ha! I get asked this so many times. Also about where I get iron from. And from people who should know better. It's like meat is the only source of iron and protein in the world in their mind.

The food here looks great! That omlette looks so tasty.

I also just eat a whole heap of different stuff and it all ends up working out, I've never had to try to increase anything or take any supplements.

Amy said...

I like eating the fake meats - Sanitarium especially put in ALL the stuff you need. I swear that stuff is like a vitamin pill in food form.

But for protein my favourite would have to be tofu. Especially in Cashew Ricotta form from V'con. Mmmmmmmm

GuitarGuy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
GuitarGuy said...

Hey Theresa this is Ed from http://www.totalcleanseguide.com/

thanks for the add, i added you to mine too :).

dreaminitvegan said...

The addition of peanut butter is interesting, but hey if it works, why not!

nora said...

That omelet sounds awesome! mostly bc it has pb in it, hahahah

Bianca said...

God, I hate that question. I know people ask because they've always been taught that protein comes from meat. It's usually an honest question, and I try to address it in the nicest way possible. But damn, it gets on my nerves. I once figured up my protein intake for a day and it was way over the 45 to 50 grams recommended for women. In fact, I probably consume too much protein and not enough veggies — but I'm workin' on that.

The omelet looks soooo good!

Groover said...

Great post. Keep it up, bringing the good topics. ;-)

My coach asked me a few weeks ago to get 30g of protein into me straight after a training ride. Since I train in the mornings before work, this means breakfast. Now, I guess it is pretty hard even for a meat eater to get enough protein into a breakfast, not alone a vegetarian, so I'll try these chickpea omeletts for sure.