Getting enough protein in your diet is essential for optimum health. Dietitian Joanne Larsen says 10 to 15 percent of your daily calories should come from protein. There are a variety of ways to incorporate animal and vegetable protein in your diet. From shredded beef to protein powder and cheddar cheese to tofu, the American diet offers many choices for meeting your protein needs. Vegetarians also have considerable options.
Step 1
Incorporate a scoop of protein powder into a variety of recipes. You can blend soy or whey protein into hot cereal and add it to smoothies, pasta sauce and cookies.
Step 2
Add soy protein to your diet in the form of tofu or soy milk. Tofu can be baked, fried, grilled, scrambled or eaten raw. Drain the water from extra-firm tofu by pressing it between two plates and layers of paper towels for two to three hours. Because tofu takes on the flavors of whatever you cook it with, try marinating it in soy sauce, orange juice and olive oil before cooking.
Step 3
Cook meat ahead of time for convenience and reheat it when you're ready to eat. Use beef, chicken or turkey pieces in fajitas or burritos, grill them on sandwiches or toss them in a salad. Shredded meat will keep for two to three days in the refrigerator.
Step 4
Cook with low-fat cheese. Use cottage cheese or ricotta in lasagna, sprinkle shredded cheddar over Mexican food or make macaroni and cheese with whole-wheat pasta.
Step 5
Add textured vegetable protein, or TVP, to sauces and chili. TVP, like tofu, absorbs the flavors of other ingredients. TVP is sold in dry crumbles and reconstituted before cooking. It extends recipes in place of ground meat, without the fat and calories.
Things You'll Need
- Protein powder, optional
- Tofu, optional
- Soy milk, optional
- TVP, optional
- Low-fat cheese, optional
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