What's the go on complete protein? (plus the most delicious recipe I've made in a long time- and that's saying something!!)

I know there are two schools of thought in the vegan world on protein. One is that there is so much protein in all that we eat that we don't really need to worry about it and that it is rare to be protein deficient.

The other is that it is important to make sure you get enough protein.

I'm in the second school of thought. I like to know that I am getting enough protein each and every meal and I believe that for anyone transitioning to a vegan diet it is important to make sure you do get enough protein and keep a check on it, at least for a while. I've been keeping a check on my protein intake for the last 31 years and I feel that is why I live very happily and healthily on a plant based diet.

I take it one step further and make sure I am having a complete protein in each and every meal. It is thought that you don't need to eat complete protein all at once; as long it is within a 24 hour window then it is ok. However, I look at the recipes passed down the generations and see a trend that they more often than not contain a complete protein so I feel that there must be something in that.

For those of you who are not sure, a complete protein is made up of all the nine essential amino acids that the body cannot reproduce itself.  

The things in a vegan diet that contain complete protein are:

  • Soy
  • Pepitas
  • Quinoa
  • Buckwheat
  • A combination of almonds, brazils and cashews
  • Hemp (hemp is a complete protein however it is lower in lysine so best to eat it along with other seeds especially pepitas or with pistachios, cashews or macadamia nuts)
  • Sprouted legumes- legumes cooked are not a complete protein however once sprouted for some reason they have all 9 essential amino acids

In addition to those foods you can combine foods to get a complete protein.
The combinations are;

Grains plus a legume

For example
Dhal and rice, Mexican beans and corn chips/rice.
Peanut butter on toast (peanuts are a legume)

Grains plus a seed/nut

For example
Brown rice with seeds or a cashew cream sauce
Pesto pasta
Risotto with a nut sprinkle (nut sprinkle is nuts put in the food processor with nutritional yeast to make a type of plant based parmesan)
Crackers with nut spread
Peanut butter or macadamia butter on toast
Steamed veg with rice and tahini sauce

Seed/nut plus a legume

For example
Hummus
Dhal or Chickpea Curry thickened with cashew nuts
Soup with legumes or cannellini beans and then a nut sprinkle on top
The recipe I share with you today
The pea fritters from last week's blog post

I hope this information is useful to you. Please share on social media as I love people to be more informed. If you have anything you would like to add please let me know and I will let others know.

If you want to know how much protein each food contains you can look on the internet or better still buy my cookbook Veet's Cuisine, Delicious Vegan Recipes where there is an easy guide for you to refer to.

Almond, Cauliflower and Tomato Bake

This recipe just has to be shared, its one I have been working on for a while and I've nailed it. I am in love with it and am even dreaming about it. It isn't even cauliflower season but I just couldn't wait to share it with you. Fortunately the fruit and veg manager at Santos saved me the last three cauliflowers for the season so I was able to perfect this recipe and try it out on a workshop I am presently catering for. It's a complete protein all on its own as it contains besan flour and almonds (beans plus nuts). If you don't like chickpea flour you can use a combination of three other gluten free flours.

You could even line a tart dish with this bake and then put a filling in it, but I think it is perfect served up in rectangles to eat with a meal or on an antipasto platter. You can also put anything you like on top of the bake instead of tomatoes.

2 cups besan flour
2 cups almond meal
2 small cauliflowers
2 to 3 tomatoes sliced
½ cup nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4-cup water or more to thin it a little

Cook the cauliflower in a steamer until very soft then process it in a food processor. Mix it with all the ingredients except the tomato. Taste for salt and pepper, add more if you think it needs it. Place in a paper lined baking tray (you can decide how big, I like the bake to be at least 1 cm high) and press in the tomato. Bake in a 180°C oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until firm.  Cut in any shape you like and serve with absolutely anything.

Mangosteen Heaven

Mangosteen

I shared with everyone on social media the other day this photo of a mangosteen. It is my all time favourite fruit. My mum used to describe it in detail to me whenever she came back from Bali. It wasn't until I actually tried one myself that I understood the intricacies of the flavours and now as I write this I realise that I could not actually describe what it is I love about it. So I will just have to treat myself to one again.  Who loves mangosteen as much as I do? What is your favourite fruit? I would love to find out please email me or post on my facebook group.

A favour to ask

There are still two places left in the March Vegan Foundation Cooking Course. This is looking like the first foundation course that hasn't been fully booked in the last eighteen months. Would love to still pick up two more participants, as when the class is full it is a really alive and a fun number of people to have together in the kitchen. Would love if you could share the event with others on Social Media or via email that there are still places left for this course starting on the 8th of March for three days.

Huge thanks in advance  

Once again have a fabulous week of cooking.

Love Veet

Categories:Snacks/Sides Mains

Tags:Protein almonds Besan flour cauliflower

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