Happy Meatless Monday! What to make for dinner tonight? A quick, simple, delicious and nutritious meal, of course!
I made this meal a few weeks ago, spur-of-the-moment creation, made with what I had on hand. I usually don’t like “pretend meat” dishes, but it’s sometimes the best way to describe it. Plus, it’s not made with tofu, so that’s always a big plus in my book. I hate all of those processed tofu dishes available on the market made to look and taste like meat.
I bought some (dry) sprouted lentils. They come in a bag just like regular (unsprouted) lentils, but the difference is that sprouted lentils are much easier to digest, they also contain more nutrients (since the seed is at its peak performance to start growing), and they also cook MUCH faster (bonus!!!). So, if you can get your hands on organic sprouted lentils, give them a try, I’m sure you will love it! You can also sprout your very own organic lentils at home, here’s how from Lentils.ca.
At 27 g of proteins per 100 g (not cooked), lentils are an excellent source of proteins in a vegan meal. When you eat a vegan diet, it is important to eat a wide variety of protein sources in order not to miss out on the various kinds of proteins and amino acids. And there’s no need to panic or obsess over the quantity either, as long as you get between 10 and 30 % of your calorie intake from protein sources, you’re good to go. (Source: Harvard School of Public Health)
Vegan BBQ minced meat meal 3-4 servings
- 1-2 large organic sweet potatoes, washed, dark bits removed
- 1-2 cups organic sprouted lentils
- 1/2 large head of organic broccoli, washed, cut into large florets (or whatever veggie you prefer)
- 1-2 organic avocado
- 1/2 large organic lettuce (your choice. I used a curly green leaf)
- marinated organic beets (or raw sauerkraut would be yummy too)
- organic spices (see description below)
Cut your sweet potatoes in large wedges, drizzle with olive oil and whatever spices you like (I put a little bit of paprika, some grey sea salt and black pepper), bake in oven at 425F for about 20-25 minutes.
Simply follow package instructions to cook sprouted lentils in (spring or filtered) water. Mine said to add 1 cup of sprouted lentils to 3 cups of boiling water, cover and simmer for 4 minutes, then remove from heat, covered, and let sit for 2 minutes. So, basically less than 10 minutes and you’ve got cooked lentils! Pretty awesome!
Prepare your vegetables to steam while the lentils are cooking. Wash and prepare your lettuce. Mix salad dressing (find recipe here). Cut the avocado, and get the marinated beets or sauerkraut out.
Then, I drained the cooked lentils really well, even used some paper towel to dry them as much as possible, and I sautéed them with a bit of high quality olive oil in a hot pan (medium heat), adding some organic BBQ spice mix (onion, paprika, garlic, black pepper, cayenne, marjoram, nutmeg) until they were starting to get crispy on the edges. That’s it. It didn’t take long, just a few minutes.
Served with steamed organic vegetables (like broccoli), sweet potato wedges, and a green salad with avocado and marinated beets. Yummy! A delicious and very healthy meatless Monday meal, ready in about 25-30 minutes! Not bad!
Yum! Enjoy!
ECP xo
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