How Do You Get Enough Protein?

I have received many questions about being vegetarian over the years. One of the most common has been "How do you get enough protein?".

According to Kristen Rindress, R.D., "The average American eats twice as much protein as they need. The DRI for protein for a healthy adult is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram per day, which translates to 54 g/day for a 150 pound person*." Plant protein foods more often are naturally low in saturated fat and high in fiber. Try beans, peas, soy products, nuts, and seeds in recipes such as Chili Con Tofu, Candied Walnuts with Herb Salad and Paprika Spiced Hummus.

Here is a list of vegetarian protein sources: [1]

AMOUNT PROTEIN(gm)
Soy Products:
Tempeh 1 cup 30
Soybeans, cooked 1 cup 22
Tofu, firm 4 oz 11
Tofu, regular 4 oz 9
Textured Vegetable
Protein (TVP), cooked 1/2 cup 8
Soy milk, plain 1 cup 7

Beans:
Lentils, cooked 1 cup 18
Black beans, canned 1 cup 15
Kidney beans, canned 1 cup 13
Chickpeas, cooked 1 cup 12
Pinto beans, canned 1 cup 12

Vegetables:
Peas, cooked 1 cup 9
Spinach, cooked 1 cup 5
Broccoli, cooked 1 cup 4
Potato 1 med. 6 oz 4

Nuts and Seeds:
Peanut butter 2 Tbsp 8
Walnuts 1 oz 7
Almond butter 2 Tbsp 5
Sunflower seeds 1/4 cup 6

Grains:
Seitan(kind of a grain)4 oz 26
Quinoa, cooked 1 cup 9
Spaghetti, cooked 1 cup 8
Bulgur, cooked 1 cup 6
Whole wheat bread 2 slices 5
Brown rice, cooked 1 cup 5

You can see, it is actually quite easy to meet your protein needs with a well-balanced vegetarian diet.

Remember to sign up on Find us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter, View our videos on YouTube and Visit our blog. Currently, we are pairing each That's Vegetarian recipe with wines from the BevMo 5 Cent Sale. It makes sense for those of us in California and parts of Arizona. For my Buffalo peeps, I could do the same when Premier is having their sale. Let me know when "that" store in your neck of the woods has their wine sale and Sherrie Smith, TVeg's Official Sommelier, and I can pair those wines for you with our recipes.

Go to That's Vegetarian and watch one (or all) of the recipe videos, print the recipe(s), and prepare any one of the dishes. You'll find yourself saying"That's Vegetarian?!"

* 0.8 grams/kilogram is approximately 0.36 grams/pound
[1] USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 23, 2010

Umami

In trying to figure out what this week's newsletter would be, my roommate mentioned 'umami'.  I thought what a brilliant idea!!!  Perhaps you are agreeing.  Perhaps you are thinking huh???

Umami is the Japanese word for delicious or savory.  It is essentially the fifth 'primary' taste. I learned of sweet, sour, salty and bitter back in the days of elementary school.  Studies in the late 1800's - early 1900's by French chef Auguste Escoffier and Dr. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University document the savory "taste imparted by glutamate, a type of amino acid, and ribonucleotides, including inosinate and guanylate which occur naturally in many foods."[1]  By the 1980's with additional studies being performed, umami gained status as a fifth 'primary' taste which helps signify the presence of proteins in the food you are eating.

Some specific sources for that fifth taste - umami for vegetarians would be

• Seaweed & kelp 
• Tomatoes, carrots, Chinese cabbage, asparagus 

  Cabrales Cheese

• Mushrooms: Shitake, Enokaitake, Truffles
• Soy beans
• Potatoes & sweet potatoes
• Cheese: Parmesan, Emmental, Cabrales
• Green tea
• Soy sauce

I encourage the sensuality of food.  It is not only in the taste that we enjoy what we consume.  It is a sensual experience.  Below is a diagram exemplifying the way we enjoy what we eat.   

How we enjoy food. [1]

That's Vegetarian's Creamy Polenta with Creamy Polenta with Caramelized Fennel and Onions with Balsamic Mushrooms is quite savory (or umami) as well as the Cream of Tomato Soup. 

Remember to sign up on Facebook , Twitter, YouTube and subscribe to this blog.  Currently, we are pairing each That's Vegetarian recipe with wines from the BevMo 5 Cent Sale.  It makes sense for those of us in California and parts of Arizona.  For my Buffalo peeps, I could do the same when Premier is having their sale.  Let me know when "that" store in your neck of the woods has their wine sale and Sherrie Smith, TVeg's Official Sommelier, and I can pair those wines for you with our recipes. 

Go to That's Vegetarian and watch one (or all) of the recipe videos, print the recipe(s), and prepare any one of the dishes.  You'll find yourself saying "That's Vegetarian?!"

[1] Umami Info

That's Vegetarian - The Journey

I love to cook.  I am vegetarian.  I thoroughly enjoy wine.  I love to teach.  I constantly watch cooking shows and wonder how I can make the recipe vegetarian and what wine would go best with it.  The journey begins on creating a vegetarian cooking show to encourage people to eat one vegetarian meal a week.  By providing delicious, satisfying recipes, how to videos and an accompanying wine, I hope to make it an easy and enjoyable adventure for all.  There are many tips that I have learned throughout the years that I look forward to sharing with you.

Thank you for embarking on this journey with me.  Watch and download the recipes at  www.thatsvegetarian.com.  Prepare the dish.  It will leave you saying "That's Vegetarian?!".

Eggplant Zucchini Parmesan Napoleon

As much as I love to cook (and eat!), occasionally I'm excited to discover things I still don't know.  I described my healthier version of Eggplant Zucchini Parmesan I was making for the show to a friend.  She then informed me that it was more like an Eggplant Napoleon.  Learn something new everyday!

Many people will salt the eggplant first in order to draw out some of the moisture and to remove the bitter flavor. Let it sit for about 30 minutes, rinse and pat dry before cooking.  I don't always do that and find the eggplant tastes just fine.  Some people will cut off the skin too.  Find what works for you.

Prepare the Eggplant Zucchini Parmesan Napoleon and you'll find yourself saying "That's Vegetarian?!"

Eggplant Zucchini Parmesan Napoleon 

1 Eggplant, about 5" long, sliced in 1/2" slices  

2 Zucchini, about 3" long, sliced in 1/4 " slices

Salt 

1 c Vegetarian pasta sauce

8 oz Shredded low fat mozzarella

8 oz Fat free ricotta cheese

Sal y pimienta or extra virgin olive oil

After slicing the eggplant, lightly salt it and let it sweat for 30 minutes.  Rinse and pat dry.   

Spray the grill pan with olive oil and turn to med heat.  Place eggplant and zucchini on grill pan.  Cook on first side until soft for about 5 minutes.  Once malleable, flip eggplant and zucchini to other side.  Should see grill marks.  Cook for another 4 minutes.   Lower heat to med low.  Add about 1-2t of ricotta cheese on each zucchini and eggplant.   Sprinkle 1-2t of shredded mozzarella on each piece then 1T of pasta sauce to each piece.  Cover the grill pan to aid in the melting and heating up of the cheese, about 5 min.  Check the underside carefully not to disturb the cheese on top to see if there are substantial grill marks.    

Plate the eggplant and zucchini.  Top with fresh ground pepper and oil.

Prep time: 15 min (40 if you salt the eggplant) 

Cook time:  25 min

Serves 4

Difficulty level: Medium 

(7pp)

Where to Find Nutritional Information

Choosing to become vegetarian nearly 20 years ago had many reasons behind it.  At that time, there was the "red meat is so bad for you" craze, my father died of a massive heart attack at 45, high blood pressure and high cholesterol ran in my family not to mention battling the chubby bug since I was born.  I did not want that for me. "Is eating animals right?" was also part of the decision but we'll save that for another time. 

As the years have gone by, I have been a healthy vegetarian and an unhealthy dessertatarian.  I think I fall somewhere in the middle these days, but I feel I am making much more conscious decisions about what I eat.  There are so many resources available the Internet.  Many of you have connected to That's Vegetarian through facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and have seen some of this information.  For those of you who haven't, please do like, follow and subscribe, respectively, so you can receive this information as I find it.

Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the food pyramid replacement - Choose My Plate.  I find the website to have a lot of information on it with regards to choosing healthy foods. They have a section in Tips & Resources discussing how to get the essential nutrients in a vegetarian diet.

I have also encountered Nutrition Data from Self Magazine.  You type the food you want the nutritional facts for and it gives you an extremely detailed analysis of the food item.  For example, I entered asparagus.  This is part of asparagus's nutritional data:

Part of my journey has been to learn how much food to eat in a day.  I went to Weight Watchers for help.  I liked the way the I could translate food into Points (now the improved Points Plus), know what my limit was for the day and be able to cook my own food. The algorithm that calculates the Points Plus value of food generally makes good for you, fresh, non-processed foods a better bargain for you to consume.  There are websites and apps that use a similar program based on calories.  ChooseMyPlate.gov has that information to an extent, but I want to hear from you!! 

Is there a website you like to go to or an app you use on your smartphone that helps you with your nutritional needs or caloric intake?   Comment below.

  

Go to That's Vegetarian and watch one (or all) of the recipe videos, print the recipe(s), and prepare any one of the dishes.  You'll find yourself saying "That's Vegetarian?!"

Spicy Hummus

I love hummus.  There are about as many varieties of hummus as there are ways to spell it!  Hummus is a transliteration of the Arabic: حمّص; also spelled hamos, hommos, hommus, homos, houmous, hummos, hummous, or humus.   In this recipe, we will add smoked paprika.  If you haven't tried smoked paprika yet, you are in for a treat.  It is becoming more common in your local grocery store.  Find it, buy it, use it on almost everything and you won't be disappointed.

Back to the hummus.  I use sesame oil instead of olive oil and tahini to help cut down on the fat content.  By adding extra lemon juice, garlic, paprika, and reserve bean liquid, you can get the desired texture and a lot of flavor.   You can also add roasted peppers, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, or use black beans instead. It is limitless!!!   

Enjoy the hummus with fresh veggies and pita. 

Watch the video, print the recipe, prepare any one of the dishes and you'll find yourself saying "That's Vegetarian?!"

Paprika Spice Hummus 

1 c Garbanzo beans  (chickpeas), drained but save liquid from canned or cooked

3 T Garbanzo beans liquid (see above)  or water

3 T Lemon juice   

1 T Sesame oil   

2 Garlic cloves, chopped  

1/8 t Paprika , smoked (opt)  

1/2 t Parsley or cilantro  

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender.  Add additional garbanzo bean liquid or water until desired consistency is reached. 

Prep Time: 10 min

Difficulty level: Easy

Serves 16 with 1T servings size

(1pp)

Paprika Spiced Hummus 

Dreamy Creamy Lemon Pie

A better title would be Dreamy Creamy Grapefruit-Orange-Lime-Lemon Pie because all of those citrus varieties work!  I do have to admit I didn't try to juice kumquats to see if the recipe worked with them.  I wonder how many it would take to obtain a half a cup of juice?  If you know, please post!

Citrus fruits are rich in Vitamin C (as we all know) and folic acid, as well as being a good source of fiber. They have many more nutrients.  Read more about lemon nutritional facts. 

Fat content is lower than other lemon pie recipes by using low fat graham crackers, no butter in the crust, and egg whites with only one full egg instead of 2 full eggs.  As with many recipes, you can change it to make it your own by using a different citrus fruit, adding butter to the crust or additional egg yolk to make it a little more custard like. 

Watch the video, print the recipe, prepare any one of the dishes and you'll find yourself saying "That's Vegetarian?!"

Dreamy Creamy Lemon Pie

1/2 c Graham cracker crumbs, about 3 crackers, low fat

11 oz Sweetened condensed milk, fat free

1 Egg   

2 Egg white   

1/2 c Lemon juice  (Can also use lime, orange, or grapefruit juice)

1 T Lemon zest   (Use matching citrus zest)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Press graham cracker crumbs evenly into the bottom of a 9" pie pan.  Or use approximately 1T at the bottom of tart dishes for smaller individual servings.  Set aside.

Beat the milk and eggs until smooth.  Stir in the lemon juice and zest until incorporated. 

Gently pour into the prepared crust.

Bake for 15 minutes.*  Cool before serving.

Prep Time: 10 min

Bake Time: 15 min

Serves 10

(3pp)

* May need to bake longer if use deeper dishes.

Dreamy Creamy Lemon Pie Printable Recipe