Four High-Protein Non-Soy Foods

Four High-Protein Non-Soy Foods

Written by Matt Frazier

Ever since I wrote a guest post for Zen Habits, I’ve discovered a bunch of Zen and minimalist blogs.

One such blog, Zen to Fitness, caught my eye with a post called Four Healthy Alternatives to Chicken.

My first thought:

“Yes!  The idea that factory-farm chicken is pretty gross and completely unhealthy (fecal soup, anyone?) is spreading to the non-vegetarian community!”

Not quite.  The four alternatives–rabbit,venison, bison, and quail–are suggested as ways to expand your menu, under the tacit assumption that chicken is pretty healthy, but these are just as good for you and offer some variety in your diet.  To the credit of Chris, the author, I do think that if you’re going to eat meat, these alternatives are better than chicken, if only because they’re more likely to be wild, or at least not mass-produced the way most chicken is.  And the better an animal lives and eats, the healthier it is for you to eat.  Michael Pollan will tell you this.

Four Vegetarian Protein Foods Not Named Tofu or Tempeh

Since the healthy alternatives on Chris’s list weren’t vegetarian, I decided to use the post as inspiration for my own “Four Alternatives” list: four high-protein, non-soy, vegetarian foods.  I have nothing against soy as long as it’s minimally processed, but a lot of people seem to think that’s the only decent source of protein out there for vegetarians.

I recently finished Robert Cheeke’s Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness, and I used his list of common, high-protein vegan foods to decide on the four non-soy protein sources for my list.

Seitan

For a long time, I thought seitan was another soy product.  Turns out, it’s made mostly from wheat.  And it has a texture very similar to meat, earning it the nickname “wheat-meat.”  A four-ounce portion of seitan has between 20 and 30 grams of protein, making it the most densely-packed vegetarian protein source I know of.  That it could pass for meat in a vegetarian dish is pure bonus, even if it’s not quite a whole food.

Beans

Nothing new here; beans are a staple of almost every vegetarian athlete’s diet.  My favorites are lentils, chickpeas and black beans, but almost every starchy bean contains 12 to 15 grams of protein per cooked cup.  Soybeans, interestingly, contain the most of all (29 g per cup); perhaps that’s why soy plays such a big role in many vegetarian diets.  Lentils, at 18 grams per cup, come in a distant second.

Quinoa

Some call it a super-grain; technically it’s a pseudo-grain.  Quinoa is actually a seed, and it comes in at 11 grams of protein per cooked cup.  It has the benefit of being gluten-free, too.  Quinoa contains a bitter coating that helps it to avoid being eaten by birds, so rinse your quinoa well before you cook it.  (Cooking only takes 12-15 minutes in hot water.)  Quinoa makes a good substitute for rice as part of a high-protein vegetarian meal.

Broccoli

Chances are, you’ve never thought of broccoli (or any green vegetable) as a high-protein food.  But per calorie, vegetables like broccoli and spinach are very high in protein.  The “problem” is that they take up a lot of room in your stomach, so it’s hard to eat enough of them to make them a significant source of protein.  Still, at 5 grams of protein per cup, I think broccoli deserves a place on list, if only because it’s interesting.

High-Protein Vegan “Beef” and Broccoli over Quinoa

This recipe that Christine came up with includes all four of the high-protein vegetarian foods from this post.  (My contribution was coming up with the moniker “wheef and broccoli,” which I recommend you avoid calling it if you don’t want to gross out your friends.)

Okay, so the bean contribution isn’t much—a little bit of black bean sauce only.  But hey, we tried.  This is a tasty meal, the closest thing I’ve ever had to beef or chicken with broccoli since going vegetarian.

Ingredients for the quinoa and stir-fry:

  • 1 1/4 cups dry quinoa, rinsed well
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 lb package of seitan
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 large head of broccoli, chopped into pieces
  • 4 teaspoons canola oil

Ingredients for the sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • 1 teaspoon agave nectar
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1 tablespoon black bean paste
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Bring the water to a boil, add quinoa and reduce heat to medium-low.  Let simmer for 12-15 minutes until tender, let stand 5 minutes.  Fluff with fork when ready to serve.

Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and mix well to dissolve corn starch.  Set aside.

Heat the two teaspoons canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the seitan, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes to brown.  Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in the same pan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and garlic; cook for two minutes and add broccoli.  Cover and let cook for 5-10 minutes, checking the broccoli until it is crisp-tender.  When it is, add sauce and browned seitan and cook until the sauce thickens slightly.

Serve with additional soy sauce and Sriracha sauce if desired.

Also check out:

 

Making Seitan for Beginners

How To Make Seitan

Stacy Spensley is a holistic health coach and theatrical stage manager who blogs about healthy homemade vegetarian food at Little Blue Hen. She is still entertained by the year-round growing season of Southern California and uses her CSA produce to make food that is both delicious and healthy, and still enjoyed by her omnivorous husband. Stacy will also make things at home, just to prove that she can (case in point: See below). You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.

How to make Seitan from Flour

When I stopped eating meat about fifteen years ago I relied, like many new vegetarians, on processed meat substitutes: frozen soy burgers, fake “riblets,” and “chik” nuggets in brightly colored packages. For many people these products ease the transition to a new way of eating, but using them can also become an additive-laden crutch. Over the years I’ve transformed my own diet and, I have abandoned the freezer section for the kitchen with delicious, simple, unprocessed results.

The meat substitute I make most often is a batch of spicy black bean burgers, so tasty my omnivorous husband requests them regularly. But he also enjoys (and has even made) seitan.

Seitan. Mock duck. Wheat meat. Whatever you call it, seitan originated in Asia where vegetarian Buddhists used it in place of meat for centuries. Its spread in popularity is credited to the macrobiotic food movement which began in Japan. The word is not actually Japanese, but based in it, which is why I pronounce it “say-TAHN,” not “Satan.”

What is seitan?

Seitan is simply wheat gluten, spiced and simmered. My previous method used store-bought vital wheat gluten as a shortcut, but Andrew learned that the process to make vital wheat gluten is not replicable at home. Undeterred and not without a little spite, I set out to make it from scratch: Flour and water, here I come! After reading mopey stories about how time-consuming the process was, I was pleasantly surprised that the actual hands-on time was little more than the “shortcut” method, and I enjoyed the end product more than previous batches.

Gluten is the protein found in wheat which, when mixed with water, forms into long stretchy strings that give bread its structure. When you develop those strands, rinse off the starch, and cook the gluten bits, you get seitan. The chewy texture is quite similar to meat — I’ve definitely had seitan-based dishes that I’ve had to double-check that they were actually meat-free.

How to make seitan at home

The process is simple, but does take some time. Make a large batch and freeze the extra.

Mix whole wheat flour and water into a stiff dough to develop the gluten. I used my stand mixer.

How To Make Seitan: Flour Dough

Cover with cold water and let soak for a few hours or overnight. This both allows the gluten to develop and the starch to “loosen up.”

How To Make Seitan: Soaking the Dough

Knead the dough and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. It takes about 10 minutes. I used a mesh sieve to help.

How To Make Seitan: Knead and Rinse the Dough

You’ll be left with only the gluten, which is considerably smaller in volume than your starting mass of flour. This was a smaller batch than the recipe lists, and 12 ounces of flour yielded just over 5 ounces of seitan.

How To Make Seitan: Strain the dough

Those stringy strands are exactly what we want.

Form the gluten into a ball; squeeze out as much water and air as possible. The smaller you can shape the piece of gluten, the firmer texture your finished seitan will have. Cut the gluten into pieces using a bench scraper or sharp knife.

How To Make Seitan: The finished homemade Seitan!

Bring a pot of broth to a boil and drop in the pieces of gluten. Simmer the gluten for about half an hour until the broth is almost gone.

I like to sauté my seitan before using it, or you can store it refrigerated, covered in the broth (add more water if needed) for about a week.

This is a very basic recipe, but you can add spices to the dough when mixing, or play with your broth ingredients to add flavor components at any stage.

My favorite ways to eat seitan are on BBQ mock duck pizza, curried mock duck banh mi, in stir fries and fajitas. Leave the packaged “strips” on the shelf and with just a little effort, make your own unprocessed seitan.

Author: Stacy Spensley
Vegan, the opposite of gluten-free. Yields approximately 10 ounces seitan, drained (4-6 servings).

This is a very basic recipe. Add spices to the flour before mixing, or change-up the broth for different flavors. You can use homemade or store-bought vegetable stock, or mix up the quick broth outlined below.

Ingredients
Dough
  • 6 cups (24 ounces / 900 grams) Whole Wheat Flour
  • 2 cups Cold Water
Broth
  • 4 cups Water
  • ¼ cup Soy Sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos
  • ½ chopped Onion
  • 1 Tbs. Miso Paste
  • 1 medium Tomato, cut in quarters
  • 2 cloves Garlic
Instructions
  1. Combine flour and water. Mix until a stiff-but-cohesive dough is formed. Use a dough hook and a stand mixer if possible.
  2. Form dough into a ball, place in a bowl, and cover with cold water. Cover and let stand 4-8 hours.
  3. Knead the dough and rinse until water runs clear, about 10 minutes. Squeeze dough and press out as much liquid and air as possible. Use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut the gluten into bite-sized pieces.
  4. Combine ingredients for broth (or use your preferred vegetable stock) and bring to a boil. Drop gluten pieces into boiling broth and return to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, turning gluten pieces occasionally, until the broth is mostly absorbed and reduced, about 30 minutes. Discard onion and tomato pieces.
  5. To use seitan right away, drain and sauté in a little oil. To store, cover with broth and keep refrigerated up to a week, or frozen. Thicken and reduce broth as a gravy if desired.

Bulgur-Black Bean Vegetarian Burger

Bulgur-Black Bean Veggie Burger

Karen Mansur, Oldways and the Whole Grains Council

Packed with flavor and whole grain nutrition.  The Lime-Cilantro Aioli is a great addition, but switch it up by topping it with a chipotle mayo or your favorite condiment.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus additional for brushing
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup bulgur
1 (14-oz) can black beans, rinsed, drained and mashed
1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 whole wheat hamburger rolls
Optional toppings: lettuce, tomato, red onion

For Lime-Cilantro Aioli
1/4 cup prepared mayonnaise
1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1 lime, zest and juice
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Heat olive oil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, sauté onion until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add bulgur to pan along with 1 cup of water or broth.  Cover and simmer on low until water is absorbed, about 15-18 minutes.
  2. Put cooked bulgur in a large mixing bowl with remaining ingredients and mix well.
  3. Form into 4 patties, about 1/2 cups of mixture per patty.
  4. Chill at least 20 minutes.  While patties chill, prepare aioli by pulsing all ingredients in a blender or food processor until blended.  Chill until ready to use.
  5. In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon oil.  When hot, drop in patties and cook until golden, about 5 minutes per side.
  6. Serve on whole wheat rolls with Lime-Cilantro Aioli and desired toppings (lettuce, tomato, red onion, avocado)

This recipe was adapted from a recipe in Gourmet magazine.

 

Nutrition facts per serving:  Calories: 390 , Total Fat: 12 g, (Saturated Fat: 2 g), Sodium: 660 mg, Carbohydrate: 59 g, Fiber: 11 g,  Protein: 15 g.

makes: 4 burgers