These days there are so many lifestyle diets to choose from, paleo, vegan, banting, vegetarian etc, how do you choose? We all want to be healthy and happy, but which one is best for you? The truth is I don’t know, and I suspect it may differ from person to person, but I would say this:
In western society we eat too much meat. I believe large scale farmed meat is unhealthy due to these animal’s diets, and because of the antibiotics and growth hormones they are given routinely..all of which we ingest when eating their meat..
Large scale livestock farmed animals live in inhumane living conditions, and FACT; large scale livestock farming is harming our environment.
So from that perspective I believe following a mostlyĀ plant based diet is best. Vegetables, fruits, beans & legumes provide the fibre, minerals & vitamins that are essential to our health, and there are plenty of sources of protein to choose from, plus it makes for really interesting food.
Here are some examples of vegetarian and vegan protein sources:
Nuts
Quinoa
Tofu
Cheese & yogurt
Tempeh
Beans & lentils
Chia seeds
Eggs
What I love about vegan and vegetarian cooking is that it has tons of flavour combinations. There are so many awesome recipes to try and they are guilt free out of a moral viewpoint. The other awesome benefit of eating a mostly plant based diet is that it generally adheres to the food combining philosophy which helps alkalizes your body and causes weight loss naturally without going hungry or having to ‘diet’.
I would like to share such a recipe with you, it’s simple and quick, my kids love it, and it has lots of flavour, fibre and protein. Happy cooking ā”
Chickpea Curry
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tins of chickpeas, or 3 cups of overnight soaked & cooked chickpeas
3 medium onions, finely chopped
5 medium tomatoes peeled & deseeded + chopped, OR 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of grated ginger
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 whole cloves
3 whole cardamom pods
5 whole pepper corns
1 teaspoons of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon of garam masala
Salt & black pepper to taste
Instructions
If you are using dry chickpeas, soak them overnight and cook them until tender in well salted water.
Chop onions finely in a food processor, or just as finely as you can manage without
Fry onions in some coconut oil until they are golden and translucent, then transfer them to a bowl, add some more coconut oil to your pot and add all the spices, fry lightly until the seeds start to pop and then add the tomatoes, chickpeas and onions.
Let everything simmer together over low heat for another 20min.
Serve with brown or white basmati rice, or to make this a powerhouse of protein serve with quinoa instead of rice.
Garnish with lots of fresh coriander, a dollop of natural yogurt and some mango chutney.
