how to make plant-based eating easy and taste damn good
Look, I love meat. I love fish, shell fish, chicken. Oh, and bacon. I love me some crispy bacon. However, I do also love veggies and make it a point to whip up a fully plant-based, vegan meal a couple times a week. Whether you’re looking to go all in and become a vegetarian (or vegan), sneak more veggies into your diet or swap out meat for a plant-based meal more often, there are some ways to make the switch easier – and more sustainable. Often times I see people with the best of intentions, switching to a plant-based diet for health or environmental reasons, but compromise on filling up their plates (and bowls) with balanced nutrition and instead going into carb overload with lots of pasta and bread or eating more processed foods. I personally still enjoy animal protein in my diet, but do naturally gravitate towards plant-based meals a lot – and honestly crave vegetables. These veggie cravings didn’t happen overnight though, so I put together a couple of tips to help make sticking to your plant-based eating goals easier – and gave you some things to think about when approaching a plant-based diet.
Make sure to scroll to the bottom for a recipe for one of my favorite plant-based meals - a loaded vegan macro bowl.
1. Stick with What’s Familiar
If you are into cooking and actually love the idea of pinning a bunch of new vegetarian or vegan recipes on Pinterest to try out, YOU GO GLEN COCO. Go for it. But I know that can be overwhelming for some – and just not sustainable. For starters, take a look at your current meals and see where you can make small tweaks to making them plant-based. What do you normally eat for lunch? A burger? Try swapping for a veggie burger. If pasta with meat sauce is one of your easy and convenient go-to dinners, try trading in your traditional noodles for chickpea pasta to add in protein (since you will be missing that from the meat) and add mushrooms into the sauce for a filling replacement to the meat. If you keep meals close to what’s familiar and add some small but significant changes in, it makes the transition much easier.
2. Aim to Get Protein in at Every Snack and Meal
Switching to a plant-based diet definitely makes it more challenging to get in enough protein. If you are active, you should be aiming to get as much protein in grams as how much you weigh in pounds. For example, I weigh 140-145 and aim to get about 140 grams of protein into my diet daily. Without animal protein, you’ll want to make even more of a conscious effort to get protein in whenever and where ever you can. Having a good vegan protein powder can definitely help. One scoop will usually give you between 20-30 grams of protein. You can add a scoop into smoothies, into your oatmeal, bake with it or put a scoop into a shaker with some water for a quick snack. I personally love the PranaOn vegan protein powder. Choosing snacks with a good source of protein will also get you closer to your targeted protein intake for the day – and those snacks will help you stay full longer. If your definition of plant-based includes dairy, greek yogurt and cottage cheese are great protein-packed snacks. With greek yogurt, keep your eye on the sugar though and opt for choices lower in sugar, like Siggi’s (which actually sells dairy-free coconut-based yogurt suitable for vegans). Some of my other favorite plant-based snacks include: Brami Lupini beans, Bada Bean roasted beans, Go Macro vegan protein bars and (no-sugar-added) oatmeal. When it comes to meal time, choose vegetables with a higher protein count like broccoli, spinach, asparagus, artichokes, peas, potatoes/sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts.
3. Supplement with Supplements
In addition to protein being a key nutrient that can be difficult to get enough of on a plant-based diet, you may also want to consider supplementing with vitamin b12, vitamin D and (algae-based) omega-3 fatty acids. Plant-based diets are often low in these nutrients, so to avoid being deficient in them, you should definitely consider adding those three supplements into your routine. Without them, the first thing you’ll probably notice is your energy levels drop and if/when that happens, you’ll find it hard to want to keep up with your new plant-based eating ways.
4. Spice up Ya Life
Vegan food can get a bad rap, with the assumption that if you’re vegan, you’re missing out and sacrificing on flavor with boring salads. The truth is – just as with non-plant-based eating, it is all about the spices and flavors you cook with. Invest in some good seasoning blends, stock up on quality spices and buy some plant-based sauces, marinades and dressings to play around with. Primal Kitchen and Kaari have some of my favorites.
5. Lean on the Experts
It’s 2020 and there are some amazing meal plant-based delivery service companies out there. My personal favorites are Thistle, Sakara, Daily Harvest and Methodology. It’s definitely more expensive to lean on the experts, but if convenience is king for you – it could be totally worth it. There are also a lot of great plant-based options at restaurants, much more than ever before – and even if the restaurant you’re at does not specifically offer a lot of plant-based options, get creative. If you see beans as an ingredient on one part of the menu, for example, ask if they can be added to a salad. If the salad comes with a dairy-based dressing, request olive oil, vinegar, and lemon wedges to create your own makeshift salad dressing. Or take a look at the sides and see if you can build your own meal out of some of the sides offered. Let your waiter help you out too!
With a little extra thought, going plant-based doesn’t have to be overwhelming – it can actually be quite seamless and tasty. One of my favorite meal options is a loaded vegan macro bowl. I love to use cauliflower rice as the base and top with a mix of green veggies, some more starchy ones and for the good chunk of protein in my loaded vegan macro bowls I like to go with mushrooms and air-fried chickpeas. Mushrooms contain a good source of protein and fiber, plus vitamin B and a powerful antioxidant called selenium, which helps to support the immune system and prevent damage to cells and tissues (p.s. you can also get your daily recommended allowance from one Brazil nut). Air-fried chickpeas are the crunchy “cherry on top” and a great protein option when looking to build a plant-based meal. I am a texture person and love all the different textures in this bowl. I finished it off with a drizzle of tahini for a slight nutty taste and licked the bowl clean.
