Protein

Welcome to week 4! This week our main emphasis is on protein. Most people think of protein as only being meat, poultry, and seafood, but there are more foods that fit into this category. Proteins are also beans, seeds, processed soy products, nuts, and eggs. Protein is what helps you feel full longer.

The USDA recommends filling at least a quarter of your plate with protein and to try and always choose lean meats.

But what counts as a lean meat?

Well lean meats are typically chicken, bison or buffalo, turkey and more. Every type of meat has a lean part to it since lean just means less fatty. When choosing poultry as your lean meat it's best to also remove the skin since that adds fat to the meat. 

The USDA provides examples of lean cuts for common types of meat. For example if choosing pork the leanest cuts are center loin, and tenderloin. 

It's also always very important to make sure that you are being careful when preparing meats. If they are raw you don't want to wash or rinse them off before cutting or cooking. If you are preparing vegetables with your meat make sure to either use two separate cutting boards (one for meat and one for vegetables) or to clean the board before cutting your vegetables on it to prevent the spread of bacteria. 

However don't forget that beans are also a good source of protein, especially for vegetarians, and have very little fat. Legumes, beans, peas, and peanuts are all fiber rich and can help protect against heart disease. Although they are good sources of fiber they are considered an incomplete protein, which means they do not contain enough of some essential amino acids so you should pair them with another protein source that has the missing amino acids. An example is pairing legumes with grains or nuts and seeds. This will form a complete protein, which means together they contain all the essential amino acids. Meat, fish, eggs, cheese and dairy are all considered complete proteins. If you combine two from the picture below you will form a complete protein. The thicker arrows imply a better pairing. If you want to know more click on the URL below the picture!

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio104/compprot.htm 

It's always a good idea and more fun if you vary the protein you eat. That means you don't need to eat turkey as your only protein source for dinner. You can make soups, tacos, and burgers out of beans. Change it up and experiment with some other protein sources!

Since there are many different kinds of protein and ways to prepare them we made 4 dishes and a side salad:

• American Tacos
• Fool-Proof Quiche
• Black Bean, Corn and pepper salad
• Persan Spiced Lentil Patties
• Classic Chopped Salad

Click on any of the above to see the recipe on how to make them and as always feel free to leave comments or questions below!