4 Ways To Increase Your Consumption Of Plant-Based Foods
If you want to include more plant-based meals in your diet, you're in luck! There are numerous ways to accomplish this without making major modifications. Begin by making tiny adjustments to your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Here are four simple ways to eat more plant-based foods:
1. Try eating a plant-based breakfast. There are various nutritious plant-based breakfast options to select from. Oatmeal with fruit, whole-grain toast with avocado or peanut butter, and a fruit smoothie with bananas, plant-based milk, and frozen berries are all excellent choices.
Use chickpea flour, flaxseeds, mixed vegetables, and plant-based milk to make a chickpea omelet.
Chickpeas are high in protein and include flax seeds, which are high in omega-3 fatty acids. Mixed veggies are high in fiber and antioxidants, as well as other vitamins and minerals.
Begin your day with a herbal tea infusion, coffee with plant-based creamer, or hot lemon and agave nectar.
2. Filling half your plate with veggies is an easy way to incorporate more plant-based foods into your meals. Include a range of colors and textures to boost nutrition, flavor, and visual appeal.
You could have roasted vegetables with quinoa, a salad with a variety of vegetables and a homemade dressing, or vegetable soup.
You may also serve your favorite pizza with a side of green vegetables like spicy kale, seasoned broccoli, or wilted Swiss chard.
Eating more vegetables will help you meet your daily vitamin, mineral, antioxidant, and fiber requirements.
Eating more plant-based foods has been shown to lower blood pressure and the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
3. Substitute a meatless burger for your regular beef burger. Make veggie burgers to include more plant-based foods in your diet.
Plant-based burgers can be made with black bean burgers, lentil burgers, quinoa burgers, portobello mushroom caps, or sweet potato burgers.
Essential wheat gluten can also be used to make meatless burgers and a homemade version of seitan, a meat substitute that is high in protein.
Serve vegetarian burgers with lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, ketchup, and mustard on a whole wheat bun. You may also try them wrapped in a large lettuce leaf or on their own.
If you don't like burgers, try plant-based tacos with black beans, lentils, chopped veggies, or tempeh instead.
Another simple and tasty way to eat more plant-based foods is to make a simple pasta dish with tomato sauce and sautéed veggies like zucchini, eggplant, or spinach.
4. Play around with different plant-based snacks. Fruits and veggies are delicious on their own, but you can get creative with plant-based dips and spreads as well. Hummus, guacamole, tzatziki sauce, baba ganoush, and nut butter are some of the dips and spreads to try.
These dips and spreads go well with whole-grain crackers, pita chips, vegetable sticks, or rice cakes.
If you want something sweet, try yogurt with fresh fruit or trail mix made with dried fruits and nuts. Dates, almonds, and seeds can also be used to make energy bars.
Recipe: Lentil Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients are: ¾ cup green or brown lentils, rinsed and drained, ½ onion, diced, carrots, diced (optional), ½ teaspoon dried thyme, a bay leaf, vegetable broth or water, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and mashed potatoes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Add the lentils, onion, carrots (if using), thyme, and bay leaf to a large pot. Add enough broth or water to cover the ingredients. Boil it and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste. To make the mashed potatoes, add boiled Yukon Gold potatoes to a bowl and mash with plant-based butter, milk, garlic powder, onion powder, and sea salt to taste.
Assemble the shepherd’s pie by spooning the lentil mixture into an oven-safe dish, then topping with the mashed potatoes—Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden brown.
This recipe is a great way to eat more plant-based foods and can easily be made ahead of time. It’s also perfect for leftovers and can be in the freezer for later.
Consuming more plant-based foods is an excellent way to improve your health and well-being. There are numerous simple and tasty ways to incorporate more plants into your diet, so get creative and try something new today!