Plant Protein
Introduction
Best Sources of
Non-Animal Protein
Non-Animal Protein
Healthline lists many popular sources of plant-based proteins with the amount of protein per serving and offers this Vegan Protein Sources Chart.
You can plan your meals out, but using an app like Cronometer (which is free) can remove all the guess work, and let you know without blood testing if you may be getting too much or too little protein or other important nutrients.
Cooking Basics
Legumes / Beans
Improving Legume Digestibility - Reducing Gassiness
The following two techniques improve your access to nutrition while reducing stomach discomfort and even the gas associated with eating proteins like beans.
Soak your legumes, nuts, grains (except sorghum I think, which produces a toxin when soaked). This helps break down the protective chemicals in these seed-type foods that protect them from insect attack. If you soak long enough to start fermentation (I personally don't like the flavor), then it means other parts will also have started breaking down, which is supposedly great for digestion, and reducing gassiness.
When you are unused to eating lots of legumes/beans, then you should start with very small portions first. Like maybe a small handful of beans, the next day or meal you can increase a little, till you are able to handle full portions. This will help your gut build up the right colonies of bacteria, which have been found to boost health, while bacteria that specialize in digesting meats have been shown to cause health problems.
#1 has a few extra benefits:
Buying dry legumes/beans means you aren't paying to transport a bunch of water and metal (which is the case with pre-cooked, canned beans), but just the food itself. This is better for your wallet and the planet.
As far as I understand, all canned legumes were just washed and cooked, but not soaked. This means our diets no longer benefit from the (semi) lost the art of soaking and fermenting foods, which our ancestors did to both break down the problematic elements, and enrich our foods before cooking.
Allowing beans to sprout (older bags tend to fail here and just ferment, so watch out!) supposedly boosts their levels of nutrients like vitamin C, so it can be worth soaking our food to different levels depending on if we're making those seeds into breads (which might be better soaked or fermented) or stir fry with them (which can be better with sprouted legumes). By doing your own soaking at home, you have much more control over the taste, softness, and nutrition of your meals.
Tofu
Most packaged tofu comes in water. Taking the time to press the water out will help the tofu fry better, and m
Remove the Water
Either of these two methods will work well:
Tofu Press Place the tofu inside the press (on a plate to catch the water!),
Textbook Method Place the block between two plates and weighing it down with something heavy such as a pan or text books. This can be sped up by wrapping the tofu in a clean towel, either a clean dish cloth (just pick off any loose pieces of tofu then throw the towel in the laundry when you are done!) or some paper towels (which is less eco-friendly).
Hand Squeezing Rip off manageable chunks of tofu and hand-squeese them over a plate or bowl. Doing this over a sink, risks losing chunks of food down the drain.
Crispy Tofu
The trick to getting crispy tofu is putting it in a frying pan with some oil, and leaving it alone long enough for it to brown before flipping it to the other side. Smaller cubes may need to be flipped more times to get all or most of the sides evenly crispy.
Soy-Free Tofu
Those with soy allergies, or other conditions such as hyperthyroidism may need to avoid traditional tofu, but there's a growing array of soy-free tofu alternatives. Click the Soy-Free button for brands and recipes.
Alternative Proteins by Food Type
The following buttons will take you to pages focused on recipes, products, and cooking methods that can replace some of the most common animal-based protein sources. They can be a fun way to retain family traditions, keep your favorite food in your meal rotation without the massive ecological footprint, and help expand your food preparation skills.
Many of the foods in this section tend to have much lower protein content than other meat alternatives, particularly the mushroom-based, and jackfruit-based alternatives. Tofu, chickpea, bean, and other high-protein alternatives can often be used to replace seafood without much adjustment, but if using the lower-protein alternatives, it's advisable to make up the difference by including sides such as peas, corn, rice, or others that will help balance out the meal's overall protein content.
Some of these are high protein, while others focus more on taste or creaminess. You can often use a combination of milk alternatives to blend their properties. For example soy milk for it's high protein content, plus oat milk for it's rich creaminess!
Some of these alternatives have a reasonable amount of protein, about equal to that of eggs, but minus the high fat content, and with zero cholesterol. Others have little to no protein, so plan accordingly when baking or cooking.
Tools & Apps
Diet Trackers
Cronometer This is a particularly good app since it tracks more than the standard macro nutrients, plus iron, calcium, Vit C, and potassium. It's also free!
Grants & Funding
International
Beyond Animal "Where investors and vegan businesses meet" "Using technology, for online funding, networking and business services, to accelerate the transition to an economy free of animal exploitation. Our vision: a kinder, cleaner, healthier world."
EA Animal Welfare Fund "The Animal Welfare Fund supports advocacy, research, and movement-building work aimed at improving the wellbeing of nonhuman animals, primarily farmed and wild animals. This includes corporate and policy advocacy, research, and the promotion of alternative products."