Great Pasta!

Here's a nice pasta product: Barilla ProteinPLUS® Rotini, with all ingredients that you can understand and pronounce and 12% protein, too! 😊

A veggie meal that lasts!

Some concerns with a veg* diet often are, "I need to feel satisfied and to have a meal that lasts!" or "I can't get as much protein with a vegetarian diet as I can with meat!" Considering I'm 6' 2" and 220 lbs, and I can gain or lose weight as I please, "Wait a minute, Yes you can!" For example, doing some quick research on Wikipedia shows the following protein content for 100g (grams) of the following foods:

• Potato: 2g
• Quinoa: 4g (after cooking)
• Firm Tofu: 10.7g (10.7% protein content)
• Edamame: 10.88g
• Tempeh: 20.29g
• French Lentils: 22g
  

A balanced veg* diet will include food sources that are substantial in protein, beyond small amounts (like the potato, which is included for comparison's sake). And if you include two significant protein sources in a meal, even better! For example, lentils and quinoa, tofu and quinoa, beans and lentils, nuts with chickpeas in a salad, etc. There are many ways to get creative with multiple protein sources plus it will result in a more satisfying and lasting meal, too!

Tofu and Tempeh are both high-protein sources, effectively the equivalent of meat. Tempeh is robust when sauteed in olive oil and simmered with some soy sauce, and a great alternative for folks who aren't keen on tofu.

It isn't necessary to have the same protein source all the time! Mix them up: Beans, lentils, nuts, edamame, tofu, tempeh, etc.

Finally, taking a multi-vitamin supplement is recommended for a veg* or low-dairy diet, to provide sufficient calcium and B vitamins.

Packaged Tempeh from the Grocery Store

Firm Tofu produced in Oakland, CA

Add Pulses to your diet!

The pulses.org website is a great resource to learn more about the many benefits of Pulses and how to include them into your diet easily. Check it out!

Image attribution: pulses.org

Tasty Armenian Tagine

Over the Independence Day holiday, I tried this Armenian Tagine recipe from Timeless Foods. It was really good! See the picture below, shown with a side of Cous Cous 😋

Grilling tips from chefs

This article from Bloomberg is worth a read if you're into grilling. What may seem intuitive about the craft is actually not always complimentary to the food. Good stuff to know!

NYT Article: How to Cook Beans

Here's a great article from the New York Times cooking section on "How to Cook Beans". Check it out for some great tips!

Chickpea Tips

Here are two tips regarding chickpeas (garbanzos). I generally cook chickpeas from scratch; this means re-hydrating them in water overnight, then cooking for just 30 min. I learned from Alton Brown to add 1/8th tsp. of baking soda to the peas while cooking. I'm not sure why he suggests this, but I just do it. Then, I sometimes de-husk the peas after cooking, which is beneficial for the following reasons: 1) It makes for a smoother hummus, 2) The peas will be easier to digest! De-husking can be done by gently squeezing a cooked pea between the two forefingers and thumb, the husk will slip right off. Of course, it's tedious to do this, but the benefits are as noted, and if you enlist help it will go faster! In a 1/2 cup dried peas, a surprising portion is actually husk (see the picture below). It's OK to consume the husk, but it's just fiber, with little nutritional value.

1/2 cup chickpeas with husks on the right.

Does it have GMOs or Not?

Here's a useful on-line Non-GMO Shopping List from the Institute for Responsible Technology. So if you're wondering if your favorite strawberry jam contains GMO fruit, this list can help!

And here's a helpful explanation from cpr.com concerning how to identify conventional, GMO, and organic foods in the grocery store.

Tulsi Tea

Here's an informative article on tulsi tea (sometimes called "tulasi", too) which is starting to make appearance in store shelves in the U.S. I've been drinking a tulsi + green tea mix from Organic India, which I like as an occasional option to pure green tea, because the mix is less bitter. You may want to try it, too; pay attention to the interaction warnings in the article, though.

Rethinking the Corn System

Here are a couple of thought-provoking articles about America's Corn System and how it will likely have to adapt ahead. Some diversification is already being seen from local farmers who have gone organic, remained independent, and have moved forward to producing specialty crops such as pulses and legacy grains (although the total acreage involved is just the tip of the iceberg). One thing to note is the flawed approach of Big Ag's proposal to use GMOs to increase yield. Yield is not the problem; it's how the crop is used that's the issue. It's more efficient to send calories to feeding people than to feeding animals and cars.

• Scientific American, It's Time to Rethink America's Corn System
• Sustainable Table, Animal Feed