A plant based diet is a smart way around which to base your nutrition. You will take in a ton of fiber and antioxidants, naturally avoid saturated fat and sodium, manage your weight better, and have increased energy just to name a few of the benefits. The list is endless. When I enjoy a plant based meal I feel I've found the way of eating that's so fundamentally right! Eating food that's GROWN. So SIMPLE! That's where the real nutrition lies!
The difficulty in managing to be well rounded nutrition wise when eating plant based, is getting enough protein. Everyone has that veggie or vegan friend that just looks like they're about to crumble to the ground at any moment. It's likely due to not replacing the protein they need with things such as beans, quinoa, lentils, soy beans, tofu, and synthetic protein just to name a few.
Replacing proteins in a plant based diet deserves a blog all it's own. For now I will give you a place to start with a veritable veggie protein packed nibble of a recipe. MOST ASSUME THAT A VEGETARIAN MEAL TENDS NOT TO BE FILLING OR SATISFYING. THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH LENTIL ROLLS! I CAN GUARANTEE THAT YOU WON'T FINISH YOUR PLATE, BUT YOU WILL WANT TO SO BADLY! The main ingredient is the Lentil. Look it up, it's packed with protein and fiber and preps so easily.
NANCY'S LENTIL ROLLS.
(Yes, they are mine now)
You will need: A bunch of brown rice, a bunch of lentils (not canned!), huge swiss chard leaves, a ton of garlic, some fresh peppers (I like habanero), onions, goat cheese (optional), spaghetti sauce (optional and you should make your own. I will blog that later), pepper, fresh basil.
Filling: Make the lentils and brown rice. Make a ton of it because they are great leftovers to add to anything. Chop onions, garlic, and peppers. Mix together rice, lentils (half and half or more lentils than rice), chopped onion, garlic, peppers, pepper in a large bowl. Then add just enough goat cheese to make it a bit creamy, but don't make this a cheese dish no matter how tempted you may be!
Wrapping: Cut the center line out of the biggest swiss chard leaves you found in the produce section. Take the long pieces and place them for 20 to 30 seconds in boiling water to soften them and make them better for wrapping.
Fill and wrap: Scoop heaping spoonfulls of the delicious mixture into the middle of the soft leaf. Roll it up into the most beautiful little veggie baby.
Getting way hungry: Place as many rolls as possible into a greased baking dish. Drizzle your sauce over the rolls, just DRIZZLE, don't drown it as the sauce will take from the flavor and perfection of rest of dish! Sprinkle just a tiny bit of goat cheese (optional) over the top and then take a picture of the beauty of which deserves to be in 'Food and Wine' magazine. I also sprinkled some more seasoning and added a few basil leaves, too at that point.
Bake at 375 for 10 to 20 min depending on your oven. At the end, broil for just a minute or so to create good texture.
Enjoy! Like all the other recipes I post, this one has room for adjustment and creativity. If you prepared it a different way and it was great, please tell me about it so I can share it with the corehore foodies!
Much love and good eating!
Nancy
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