Protein. Too many non-animal protein haters out there. Crazy hard-core meatitarians often dismiss eggs and milk, even poultry, claiming only red meat will give you good enough proteins to become super-awesome-power-lifter-training-megapeople.
Really, this is all a misunderstanding. No, I'm not a nutritionist or trainer or any such authority. I'm just a simple me, who's done a good share of reading, is skeptical and analytical and curious. I won't get into veganism, since that is well into nitpicky supplements and particularities that I have not gotten quite yet.
WARNING: What follows is a bit of a rant. If you don't want to hear it, hop down the page until I relinquish the soapbox.
*hops up to the podium*
I'm not even against eating meat, either. *ducks flying stones*
Don't get me wrong. I love animals. I devote a good portion of my life to their health, well-being and humane treatment. I currently have a total of 7 VERY spoiled animals in my home. I work at a vet with exotics. I educate people on appropriate care, nutrition and training. I've devoted many thousand of dollars and hundreds of man hours to rescue and rehab. I volunteer for a wildlife non-profit center and foster wild animals. I use non-animal tested everything that's possible.
I'm just not a bleeding-heart animals above everything, anthropomorphizing vegan. I know that animals are animals and people are people. And we both serve our purposes and die. But what does that mean?
It means that I am against cruelty. Animals eating animals is a fact of life. I have no problem keeping animals to produce eggs or milk or meat, so long as it is done in a humane, sustainable fashion. That's all. When I eat eggs and milk, I choose organic. Anyways, it's only healthy to not want to eat suffering, sick, antibiotic-laden animal products, isn't it? And really, I want to do what's good for the environment, too.
*hops off soapbox*
So, when it comes to getting your protein, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. You can get it from soy, but replacing meat with soy-based meat-substitutes isn't really a great improvement in your diet. It is fairly easy to continue eating the typical, unhealthy, North-American diet without a scrap of meat. Half the point of going veg is learning to enjoy foods in a whole new way. And that's why I think what I write here is good for even those who still want to incorporate meat into their diets. I'm more focused on a better way of eating, period.
Quinoa is the new super-protein. Yes, it's an excellent whole food. But we need more variety.
The problem with vegetable proteins is that they are incomplete. It's not enough to see that beans have X amount in them, but you need to know how much of that is ACCESSIBLE to your body. Meat has a great balance, so that much of it is available for your body to absorb, and that's why it's considered a better quality protein.
However, there are ways to get around that. Unfortunately, you don't hear or read much about this, but the key to making veg protein accessible is to eat it in the right proportions. Just like Vitamin D and calcium, one compliments the other. And the simple answer is this: mix your grains and legumes.
Yep, that's it. You eat these buggers together and voila! you have great, accessible protein! No soy, no meat! Perfectly healthy protein. Seriously.
So, to complete this entry, here's one of my very favourite dishes. This is my own dealio, after a bit of experimentation. I won't give you measurements, since it'll vary with how many you're making. It's just a guideline for you to create for your own taste.
This is an excellent recipe to sneak veg into your diet, if you're not a big fan to begin with. The zucchini adds richness and creaminess, and you barely notice it! You can do the same with some eggplant, too, although I'm not brave enough to do that yet (yick).
Vegetarian Ques (awesome comfort food)
Filling:
Steamed Brown (or any) rice
Kidney (or any) beans
Grated Zucchini
Shredded cheese of your favourite variety (I usually use a cheddar-base mix)
Finely Chopped green chili pepper
you can also add in:
chopped green peppers
sauteed (or raw) mushrooms
grated carrot
any other random veg you want
Mix together while still hot, so the cheese melts and makes a gloopy mixture.
Add in some chili powder, cumin, paprika, a dash of salt and some white pepper (or black pepper if you prefer) You can also use Mexican green sauce in here. I toss in a bit of oregano, too.
put about 1 cup of this between 2 small rounds of tortilla (I like whole wheat flax seed variety, but use what you have)
Place in the oven at 350 until slightly crispy on top (10 mins?)
In the mean time, mix yourself up some Pico de Gallo
Chopped fresh tomatoes
chopped white onions
FINELY chopped green chili pepper (to taste)
cumin, paprika, chili pepper, dash of salt and some white pepper (black is too strong here, I think), sprinkle of oregano, and 1 clove of garlic, if you like.
Mix all that together, with a generous squeeze or two of fresh lime over it. Half a lime works well. Trust me, don't use lime juice from the bottle. It just won't be great. Limes are cheap. Go get one. Get 5. Go. Go now! Limes are good.
Let that sit in the fridge for a bit.
Top the hot quesadilla with low-fat sour cream or a thick yogurt* and pico. Or if you're lazy, use salsa. Try not to be lazy. And use fresh limes.
For the love of all that is not holy, please, do NOT eat this with ketchup. Or, if you do, don't ever tell me about it. Blech.
LIME!
* Greek Yogurt works well. And I have to say this because I know someone will email me a nasty note... use PLAIN yogurt. No flavour. If you can't find a thick yogurt, take some regular and place it in a cheese cloth or thin, non-linty cloth and tie a knot in the top. Stick a chopstick through the knot and hang it in a big bowl to let drip for a couple of hours. But this is a LOT of trouble, so just use the sour cream.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Let's Talk Smoothies
My father managed a commercial kitchen for all of my life. He taught me that good cooking starts with some basic skills, and after that, it's comfort with improvising. It used to drive me crazy when he'd give me a recipe over the phone with measurements like "a smidge of pepper" or "a handful of carrots" (he has HUGE mitts, while I have the smallest hands known to womankind).
It wasn't until I was giving a recipe to a friend and she complained that "whatever's in the fridge" isn't a helpful list of ingredients (especially since keeping rabbits lends a lot of unusual veg into the mix) that I really understood what he was telling me. Couple that with my very particular tastes, I tend to change recipes at random and not write them down. Hence, this blog.
Anyways, more to the point, I like to use ingredients I have on hand and try to limit waste. This means, my meals are more dictated by chance and mood than anything else. I did try meal planning, and that lasted for all of a week. Things always come up, and what if I wasn't in the mood for what I had planned, anyways? It's something I would definitely return to if I had a family, or maybe if there was more than just me. But there isn't. And I'm lazy, besides. That's also why I try to eat a lot of veg (even though I much prefer meat and grains, and SUGAR). Any scraps or leftovers can go to the bunnies.
Which brings me to today's recipe. My vegetarian stint had me discover one of my favourite ingredient substitutions: Almond Milk! (I hate soy milk) If you can't find it anywhere, you can use soy or cow milk in this, or whatever you usually use for milk. Using just the juice will make the smoothie too tangy. But I really suggest you find almond milk. It adds a nice smoothness, a subtle taste and some protein (this is a great breakfast for vegetarians or vegans).
Basic Raspberry Smoothie Breakfast-On-The-Go
(gives about 10 oz)
1/4 c orange juice (fresh squeezed is the best, concentrate tends to be very acidic)
1/4 almond milk
1/2 banana
small handful frozen cranberries* (annoying, isn't it??)
1/4 to 1/2 c frozen raspberries
Dash of FRESH ginger**
Toss all of this into your trusty blenderizer-type device. If it gets all frozen and stops with the blending, then nuke 1/8 c water or oj and drizzle it in. This will assist with the smoothenizing.
And because I believe wholeheartedly in spontaneous improvising, please feel free to substitute, add and change the fruits depending on your taste. My favourite is raspberry, who knows what yours will be?
If not vegan, try a touch of honey in there, too! (works well if you make a straight cranberry smoothie) If you try carrot in there, cook it lightly first (it'll need to be soft... I recommend steaming), don't use too much and toss a bit of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves in.
Points value for the original recipe: 4
Fill value: Light to Moderate, but good for non-breakfasteers, or on-the-go-ishness
* Not only are cranberries very good for you, but remarkably, they really make the raspberries taste more like, well, raspberries than they normally do!
** Here's a hint for you: Take your polyp of ginger, peel it, and toss it into the food processor. Then separate it into 1 tsp servings. You can use an ice cube tray, you can keep one specially for the purpose of portioning out stuff, but I'm too disorganized to do this. I just take small pieces of plastic wrap and make pouches and freeze them that way. Once they're all frozen, place the cubes or pouches into a freezebag and there you have 'em. Defrost one, it'll last in the fridge for about 4-5 days, and throw a bit into your cooking. Alternately, I saw mini-cube trays at the dollar store yesterday which would work for individual shake size... go nuts!
It wasn't until I was giving a recipe to a friend and she complained that "whatever's in the fridge" isn't a helpful list of ingredients (especially since keeping rabbits lends a lot of unusual veg into the mix) that I really understood what he was telling me. Couple that with my very particular tastes, I tend to change recipes at random and not write them down. Hence, this blog.
Anyways, more to the point, I like to use ingredients I have on hand and try to limit waste. This means, my meals are more dictated by chance and mood than anything else. I did try meal planning, and that lasted for all of a week. Things always come up, and what if I wasn't in the mood for what I had planned, anyways? It's something I would definitely return to if I had a family, or maybe if there was more than just me. But there isn't. And I'm lazy, besides. That's also why I try to eat a lot of veg (even though I much prefer meat and grains, and SUGAR). Any scraps or leftovers can go to the bunnies.
Which brings me to today's recipe. My vegetarian stint had me discover one of my favourite ingredient substitutions: Almond Milk! (I hate soy milk) If you can't find it anywhere, you can use soy or cow milk in this, or whatever you usually use for milk. Using just the juice will make the smoothie too tangy. But I really suggest you find almond milk. It adds a nice smoothness, a subtle taste and some protein (this is a great breakfast for vegetarians or vegans).
Basic Raspberry Smoothie Breakfast-On-The-Go
(gives about 10 oz)
1/4 c orange juice (fresh squeezed is the best, concentrate tends to be very acidic)
1/4 almond milk
1/2 banana
small handful frozen cranberries* (annoying, isn't it??)
1/4 to 1/2 c frozen raspberries
Dash of FRESH ginger**
Toss all of this into your trusty blenderizer-type device. If it gets all frozen and stops with the blending, then nuke 1/8 c water or oj and drizzle it in. This will assist with the smoothenizing.
And because I believe wholeheartedly in spontaneous improvising, please feel free to substitute, add and change the fruits depending on your taste. My favourite is raspberry, who knows what yours will be?
If not vegan, try a touch of honey in there, too! (works well if you make a straight cranberry smoothie) If you try carrot in there, cook it lightly first (it'll need to be soft... I recommend steaming), don't use too much and toss a bit of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves in.
Points value for the original recipe: 4
Fill value: Light to Moderate, but good for non-breakfasteers, or on-the-go-ishness
* Not only are cranberries very good for you, but remarkably, they really make the raspberries taste more like, well, raspberries than they normally do!
** Here's a hint for you: Take your polyp of ginger, peel it, and toss it into the food processor. Then separate it into 1 tsp servings. You can use an ice cube tray, you can keep one specially for the purpose of portioning out stuff, but I'm too disorganized to do this. I just take small pieces of plastic wrap and make pouches and freeze them that way. Once they're all frozen, place the cubes or pouches into a freezebag and there you have 'em. Defrost one, it'll last in the fridge for about 4-5 days, and throw a bit into your cooking. Alternately, I saw mini-cube trays at the dollar store yesterday which would work for individual shake size... go nuts!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Eventually I'll be adding photos of my meals here, too. For now, a short paragraph on what's the deal here and what I made tonight (which was SPECTACULAR!)
My principles are generally summed up by uncluttered, simple, healthy living. At least, that's what I try for. Oh, and CHEAP. I just (and by just, I mean 4 days ago) graduated from university, with what seems to be the requisite mass of loans and debt that's too common these days. Oh, and with about 20 pounds of extra thesis-writing weight.
What I am wondering is whether I can eat healthy, for less money, and still satisfy my picky tastebuds. Right now, I'm trying Weight Watchers, so I'll give you points value for what I'm making, but ignore them if you don't care :).
So, on to tonight's recipe:
Salt and Pepper Shrimp a la NOM
26 medium shrimp
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp coarse salt (try for sea salt, if you have it)
3/4 tsp Szechuan peppercorns (you can use a mix of black, red and/or white, but try to get the Szechuan)
3 tsp oil
2 garlic cloves
tsp (or more) chili flakes
Rinse and shell the shrimp, dry them off and lightly coat them in corn starch.
Heat 2 tsp of oil (use a wok if you have one... I didn't though, so no worries), rotate to cover the pan and saute the shrimp until mostly cooked through. Take them out
Put the last tsp of oil in the pan and saute the garlic and spices* for maybe 10-15 seconds, then toss the shrimp back in. Cook for another minute or so.
You can garnish with chopped green onion. I didn't though, I made crispy-roast kale with it.
Put 13 shrimp on 1/2 cup of brown rice and you have a 6 point yummy meal (even with veg, add a point if you put on a LOT of carrots). Crispy kale adds 1 more point, and lots of nutrients. I'll post that recipe later this week.
* Now is the time to add in any veg you like, such as green peppers, onions, carrots, or whatever... just make sure they're diced small, lightly coated with corn starch and there's not more than 1/4-1/2 cup or so, otherwise you'll make the shrimp soggy. You don't want this. You might also want to double the spices if you do this, depending on your taste. Cook until al dente before adding the shrimp back.
My principles are generally summed up by uncluttered, simple, healthy living. At least, that's what I try for. Oh, and CHEAP. I just (and by just, I mean 4 days ago) graduated from university, with what seems to be the requisite mass of loans and debt that's too common these days. Oh, and with about 20 pounds of extra thesis-writing weight.
What I am wondering is whether I can eat healthy, for less money, and still satisfy my picky tastebuds. Right now, I'm trying Weight Watchers, so I'll give you points value for what I'm making, but ignore them if you don't care :).
So, on to tonight's recipe:
Salt and Pepper Shrimp a la NOM
26 medium shrimp
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp coarse salt (try for sea salt, if you have it)
3/4 tsp Szechuan peppercorns (you can use a mix of black, red and/or white, but try to get the Szechuan)
3 tsp oil
2 garlic cloves
tsp (or more) chili flakes
Rinse and shell the shrimp, dry them off and lightly coat them in corn starch.
Heat 2 tsp of oil (use a wok if you have one... I didn't though, so no worries), rotate to cover the pan and saute the shrimp until mostly cooked through. Take them out
Put the last tsp of oil in the pan and saute the garlic and spices* for maybe 10-15 seconds, then toss the shrimp back in. Cook for another minute or so.
You can garnish with chopped green onion. I didn't though, I made crispy-roast kale with it.
Put 13 shrimp on 1/2 cup of brown rice and you have a 6 point yummy meal (even with veg, add a point if you put on a LOT of carrots). Crispy kale adds 1 more point, and lots of nutrients. I'll post that recipe later this week.
* Now is the time to add in any veg you like, such as green peppers, onions, carrots, or whatever... just make sure they're diced small, lightly coated with corn starch and there's not more than 1/4-1/2 cup or so, otherwise you'll make the shrimp soggy. You don't want this. You might also want to double the spices if you do this, depending on your taste. Cook until al dente before adding the shrimp back.
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