[0:00] - Okay, so I get a lot of requests
[0:01] for high protein vegan meals,
[0:03] usually from folks who
are looking to get ripped,
[0:04] brawny, burly, beefy, and or hunky.
[0:06] So today I've got three 20-minute meals,
[0:08] each of which has over 30 grams of protein
[0:11] and is guaranteed to get you
looking as swole as I am.
[0:14] (intense rock music)
[0:20] Let's get into it.
[0:21] First up, we're gonna make
a Smashed Edamame Toast,
[0:24] like a smashed avocado
toast, but different.
[0:26] And I love using edamame, just like this.
[0:28] It comes frozen in a bag.
[0:30] I like to buy it pre-shelled
'cause it's less prep work
[0:32] and it is so high in protein.
[0:34] It's got more protein than any other bean
[0:36] and is also great for
quick 20-minute meals
[0:38] because it's already cooked.
[0:40] This is just a little frozen still,
[0:41] so I'm going to just run
it under some warm water.
[0:43] You can also defrost it in the fridge.
[0:45] (upbeat music)
[0:48] Oh wait, I need a...
[0:49] (bowl clanks)
[0:50] The blade, one sec.
[0:51] Where'd that be?
[0:53] Down here maybe?
[0:54] Okay.
[0:56] The great thing about this Edamame smash
[0:57] is that everything happens
in the food processor.
[1:00] So it is super quick, super
convenient, minimal chopping.
[1:03] We're also gonna add some avocado.
[1:05] It's kind of a smashed avocado toast
[1:07] like I mentioned.
[1:07] We need half of the medium.
[1:09] All right, she looks pretty good.
[1:10] The beauty of living in California
[1:11] is that all of your avocados
look nice all the time.
[1:14] Our taxes though, I feel like
we're paying an avocado tax.
[1:16] Got some raw garlic.
[1:17] Gonna give it a rough chop.
[1:19] Serrano pepper for some heat.
[1:22] Leave out the membranes
if you don't want it
[1:24] spicy or too spicy.
[1:25] Some cilantro, I'm gonna
just do like a large handful,
[1:29] I'm not measuring it.
[1:30] Any tough stems, you
wanna get rid of those.
[1:32] But tender stems, A-Okay.
[1:34] They're delicious they're
edible right in there.
[1:37] What else do we got?
[1:38] Lime, some lime zest.
[1:39] The zest is gonna add
this pure lime flavor
[1:42] and the juice is gonna add acidity.
[1:44] So they both work really well here
[1:45] to brighten all the flavors.
[1:47] Quarter cup of tahini.
[1:48] This is gonna add a nutty indulgence.
[1:51] It's also got some protein in there.
[1:52] Look at that.
[1:54] Some tamari or soy sauce.
[1:56] Use tamari if you're gluten free.
[1:57] Tablespoon and a half of that,
[1:59] that's gonna add that really
lovely savory depth of flavor.
[2:04] Optionally a teaspoon
of toasted sesame oil.
[2:07] I love the flavor.
[2:08] It's like rich and nutty.
[2:09] If you don't love it, you can omit it.
[2:11] And now we're just gonna blend it all up.
[2:15] Right, this is what you're looking for.
[2:16] It's chunky, it's not totally smooth,
[2:18] but it's come together in a nice
[2:20] beautifully green dip consistency.
[2:23] We'll just give it a taste.
[2:24] See if it needs any salt or extra lime.
[2:27] (calm upbeat music)
[2:29] That's really good.
[2:30] I don't think it needs anything.
[2:31] I love it.
[2:33] Bread, there's a lot
of variation in bread.
[2:35] You can get from the bakery,
[2:36] you can get from the grocery store.
[2:38] Since this is a high protein meal,
[2:39] I picked the highest
protein bread I could find.
[2:41] This particular brand has six
grams of protein per slice.
[2:45] 12 grams of protein in these little guys.
[2:47] All right, I'm gonna
pop this under my boiler
[2:48] to toast for a minute and then
we'll assemble everything.
[2:52] So this bread is tiny, but I
promise it's really filling.
[2:55] so don't let the size dissuade you.
[2:57] And the great thing about
this dip is is it makes a lot.
[2:59] So you can have this
for breakfast or lunch
[3:01] for several days and the full
measurements for everything
[3:04] is on the blog,
[3:05] printable format in both metric
and imperial measurements.
[3:09] Final couple toppings if you wanna sneak
[3:10] some extra protein in there,
[3:12] hemp seeds or hemp hearts,
[3:13] please have a good amount of protein.
[3:15] They'll add a little bit of a nutty crunch
[3:17] and some sauerkraut because
it's got that good gut bacteria
[3:21] and also it adds this nice
little tangy salty finish on top.
[3:25] Ta-da, it's not like gourmet looking,
[3:28] but it's really really delicious
and it's gonna fill you up
[3:31] if you have this for
breakfast or for lunch.
[3:33] Should we give it a bite?
[3:34] We should give it a bite.
[3:35] I'd like a bite.
[3:36] (calm upbeat music)
[3:38] This is ridiculously good.
[3:39] It's savory, it's salty, it's
a little creamy and nutty.
[3:42] It was incredibly easy to make.
[3:44] So definitely add this one
[3:45] to your breakfast or lunch rotation.
[3:46] Next up we're gonna
make a tofu noodle bowl
[3:49] with an almond butter sauce
[3:50] and the first thing we're gonna do
[3:51] is cook our noodles, our pasta.
[3:53] So let's get some water
on the stove for that.
[3:54] So my little secret is
to fill your sauce pan up
[3:57] halfway with water and also
put on your electric kettle
[4:00] to boil 'cause that boils faster.
[4:02] Then you can add your boiling
water to your sauce pan
[4:04] and that is how you get
a pot of pasta water,
[4:07] pot of pasta water to boil quickly.
[4:09] As for the type of pasta,
[4:10] I've got some whole wheat spaghetti here.
[4:12] I'm using whole wheat pasta
[4:13] 'cause it has a little bit more protein
[4:14] than your standard white flour pasta.
[4:16] It's got like six to seven grams
[4:17] of protein per serving, so not bad.
[4:19] While we wait for the water to boil,
[4:21] we're going to prep our tofu.
[4:22] We're gonna make some spiced
tofu crumbles as our protein.
[4:25] I've got a block of super firm tofu
[4:28] and I like using super
firm tofu for two reasons.
[4:31] One, it's got most of the
water pressed out of it,
[4:33] minimal prep work for you,
[4:35] you don't have to press it yourself.
[4:36] So great for a 20 minute meal.
[4:38] And the second reason
is that super firm tofu
[4:40] has lightly more protein per ounce
[4:42] than a firm or extra firm tofu
[4:44] because it's denser and more compact.
[4:46] Great for those quick protein heavy meals.
[4:48] I regret opening this
before going to the sink.
[4:50] Carefully tiptoe over there.
[4:51] Oh nope, it's already spilling.
[4:54] All right, we don't have to press the tofu
[4:55] but you do wanna just dab
out some water if you can.
[4:59] There's really not that
much left, which is great.
[5:01] I'm gonna slice it into a couple slabs
[5:03] just again to get any water out.
[5:05] And now we're gonna crumble
into really small pieces
[5:08] like the size of a blueberry maybe.
[5:09] Just some therapeutic tofu crumbling.
[5:11] Super firm tofu is also chewier
[5:14] than a regular firm or extra firm tofu.
[5:16] So you get more of that
like meat adjacent quality.
[5:19] You could also do this recipe with tempeh.
[5:21] If you like tempeh, it's got
even more protein than tofu.
[5:24] You would just crumble it into
small pieces with your hands
[5:27] and follow the recipe as is.
[5:28] If you wanna learn how to make
tempeh taste really amazing,
[5:31] I've got a whole video on that right here
[5:32] and I've got a few things
here to add some flavor
[5:35] to our tofu.
[5:36] We're gonna start with
a couple spices we need.
[5:38] Where's my half teaspoon measure?
[5:40] A half teaspoon each of onion
powder and garlic powder
[5:44] and possibly my favorite spice blend ever,
[5:46] five spice powder.
[5:48] It is intoxicatingly good.
[5:50] It's warm, it's slightly
sweet, it's just delightful.
[5:53] And some salt.
[5:54] Obviously we need some salt,
good amount of black pepper,
[5:57] and we're just going to gently
toss everything together.
[5:59] You can use your hands or a
silicone spatula like I am.
[6:02] Soon, these pale chunks of tofu
[6:05] will be crispy and golden brown.
[6:07] All right, our kettles ready.
[6:08] Let's finish our pasta water.
[6:09] Let's add some salt to
season and our noodles.
[6:12] We're gonna have to kind
of finagle them in there.
[6:15] While the pasta's cooking,
[6:16] we're gonna make our tofu.
[6:17] Got this medium frying pan,
[6:19] medium high heat.
[6:20] We're gonna add a little bit
of oil, about a tablespoon.
[6:22] Any oil is fine.
[6:23] This is avocado oil.
[6:24] All right, once your oil is nice and hot,
[6:26] time to add the tofu and
the goal is to spread it out
[6:29] as much as you can in a single layer.
[6:31] I probably could have
used a bigger pan, sigh,
[6:33] and you wanna cook it undisturbed
for the first few minutes
[6:35] then flip and continue that process
[6:37] so that the tofu gets really
nicely golden brown and crispy.
[6:40] The nice thing about this tofu recipe
[6:42] is because you don't have
to stir it very often,
[6:44] you can kind of do a couple
other things in the meantime
[6:46] like prep your vegetables.
[6:47] I'm gonna use about three
cups of broccoli florets.
[6:49] Just measuring that out
[6:50] and then we'll add it to our pasta water.
[6:52] This is not a florets.
[6:53] I'm very disappointed in
whoever prepared these.
[6:56] The blah.
[6:59] This is not a floret.
[7:01] All right, that looks good.
[7:03] Give this a stir.
[7:04] You can see it's already
getting nicely brown.
[7:06] It smells fantastic from
the five spice powder.
[7:09] All right, let's add this broccoli in.
[7:11] Plop, plop, plop, give it another stir.
[7:16] Let's go see if our pasta
and broccoli are ready.
[7:18] No, this does not feel ready.
[7:21] (calm upbeat music)
[7:23] It is ready, I lied.
[7:24] Okay, it could use a little longer.
[7:26] In the meantime, we're gonna
get started on our sauce.
[7:28] Takes like two minutes to put together.
[7:30] It's spicyish savory almond butter sauce.
[7:33] I make some variation
of this all the time.
[7:34] I like using almond butter
'cause it's high in protein.
[7:37] Seven grams of protein in
two tablespoons, not bad.
[7:39] We're gonna use four tablespoons of that.
[7:41] I feel like it's gonna
be irresponsible though
[7:43] if I don't drain the pasta.
[7:44] So let's go do that.
[7:45] I like serving this cold
or at room temperature.
[7:47] So we're gonna rinse this under cold water
[7:49] and we'll just let this hang out
[7:50] in the sink to dry off a bit.
[7:51] Back to our sauce.
[7:53] Multi-tasking is fun.
[7:54] All right, rice vinegar
for a nice little tang,
[7:57] tablespoon of that.
[7:58] Let's give her a shake.
[7:59] Pretty much done.
[8:00] Just give it another minute maybe.
[8:01] Some soy sauce or tamari.
[8:03] Two teaspoons of that.
[8:04] Gonna add that savory
saltiness that I love so much.
[8:08] Little bit of maple syrup.
[8:09] Just a little bit to kind of balance
[8:11] the saltiness and the
savoriness and the heat
[8:14] which we haven't added yet, but we will.
[8:16] As promise, our heat.
[8:17] These are Szechuan chili flakes.
[8:19] If you don't have them, that's fine.
[8:20] Just use like a red pepper flake.
[8:21] I'm using half teaspoon.
[8:23] You don't like spicy food, don't use them.
[8:26] We're good on the tofu.
[8:27] Let me just show you what it looks like
[8:28] before I kill the heat.
[8:30] Nicely golden brown, crispy, perfect.
[8:33] All right, let's give this a whisk
[8:34] and we're gonna have to
add a little bit of water
[8:36] to make it more of a sauce
consistency for our noodles.
[8:39] Let's give it a taste.
[8:41] (calm upbeat music)
[8:43] That's good, a little pinch of salt.
[8:45] And we are off to the races.
[8:46] No we're not, vegans
don't go to the races.
[8:48] But we're gonna assemble the meal.
[8:49] That's what we're gonna do.
[8:49] Get our sauce in there.
[8:51] It looks good already.
[8:52] Gonna use the tongs I had for the pasta.
[8:54] Bringing this all together.
[8:56] Yum, now for our tofu.
[8:58] I can feel I'm already getting
swole just looking at this.
[9:00] Couple final tush, tushes, tushes.
[9:03] Couple final touches.
[9:04] Again my favorite ingredient,
just a tiny drizzle
[9:06] for that sesame flavor and sesame seeds.
[9:09] Can you tell I like sesame?
[9:10] I love it.
[9:11] These are gonna add a nice nutty crunch
[9:12] and also a tiny bit of protein.
[9:14] So win-win.
[9:15] She looks good.
[9:16] It's time for taste.
[9:18] (calm upbeat music)
[9:22] I freaking love this one.
[9:23] It is creamy, it's nutty,
it tastes very indulgent.
[9:27] Definitely doesn't taste
like a high protein meal.
[9:29] I honestly can't tell
it's whole wheat pasta.
[9:31] I love the sauce,
[9:32] the tofu is chewy and a little crunchy.
[9:33] So definitely give this one a try.
[9:35] Next we're making garlicy
quinoa and lentils with ricotta.
[9:38] This is probably a good time to tell you
[9:39] that I don't like quinoa.
[9:41] I think it is boring in
texture and boring in flavor,
[9:43] but it's high in protein.
[9:44] So I wanted to challenge myself to come up
[9:46] with a quinoa recipe that I actually like
[9:48] that can be made in 20 minutes
[9:49] and this is the recipe.
[9:50] We need one cup, 175 grams of quinoa.
[9:53] If you're really sensitive to bitter food,
[9:55] go ahead and rinse the
quinoa before you cook it.
[9:57] Otherwise just put it in
your water on your sauce pan.
[10:00] So we need one in a quarter cups of water,
[10:02] not too much water.
[10:03] You don't want your quinoa to be soggy.
[10:05] Let's bring this to a boil.
[10:08] While we wait for that water to boil,
[10:09] we're gonna start on
one of two condiments.
[10:11] These condiments are
going to really dial up
[10:13] the flavor and texture of
quinoa to make it exciting
[10:16] and also add some protein.
[10:17] So the first one is my tofu ricotta.
[10:19] I use this in pastas and sandwiches
[10:22] and lots of different things.
[10:23] It is so easy and it's
got a lot of protein
[10:25] and it's delicious.
[10:26] First I gotta drain the tofu,
[10:27] but we already saw what
happened when I tried to open it
[10:29] on the counter
[10:30] so I'm gonna go do that at the sink.
[10:31] I'll be back in second.
[10:32] This is one block of extra firm tofu.
[10:34] You don't need to press it,
but again like last time,
[10:36] we are going to just squeeze
out a little excess water.
[10:39] And you'll notice that I've been using
[10:41] soy products in this video
[10:42] because soy is one of the best sources
[10:44] of plant-based protein.
[10:46] I know some folks think
that like soy is bad for you
[10:48] and that it's going to like
give you boobs if you're a man.
[10:51] But if that were the case,
[10:53] there'd be a lot more men
with beautiful breasts
[10:56] and these, let's just say
these would not be these.
[10:58] These would be a lot bigger,
if you know what I mean.
[10:59] So that's all false.
[11:01] Those are just myths.
[11:02] If you're eating whole
food soy products like tofu
[11:05] and tempeh and Edamame, soy milk,
[11:07] you have nothing to worry about.
[11:08] Our water seems to be at a boil.
[11:09] So let's add our quinoa.
[11:11] It's gonna lower the heat down to low,
[11:13] cover and set a 12 minute timer.
[11:16] First in flavorings, we
have nutritional yeast.
[11:19] That has that really concentrated savory,
[11:21] slightly cheesy flavor that
is gonna be really excellent
[11:25] in this kind of ricotta replacement.
[11:27] Quarter cup of that, garlic
powder and onion powder,
[11:30] half teaspoon each,
[11:31] nice generous heaping teaspoon
of kosher salt, pepper,
[11:35] little bit of extraversion olive oil
[11:37] to give that like rich mouthfeel and body,
[11:40] tablespoon and a half and some lemon.
[11:42] The zest of one medium lemon.
[11:44] This is gonna brighten it,
give it some fresh zippy flavor
[11:48] and maybe about a tablespoon,
[11:50] tablespoon and a half of the juice.
[11:52] All right, this is it.
[11:53] You just need to blend it until smooth.
[11:55] (calm upbeat music)
[12:00] Quick taste.
[12:03] As you can see, this
makes a generous amount,
[12:05] probably five servings.
[12:06] So you can enjoy it with
the quinoa and lentils
[12:09] a few times during the week,
[12:10] and then you can put
leftovers, slather it on toast,
[12:12] you can put it with some pasta,
[12:14] you can put it on like
a grain bowl or a salad,
[12:17] it's very versatile.
[12:18] Set that aside for now.
[12:21] All right, I promised you two condiments.
[12:23] The next one is a garlicy
spiced oil with pepitas.
[12:26] Pepitas are high in protein.
[12:28] It's delicious, it's crunchy.
[12:29] We're gonna start by taking
four fat garlic cloves
[12:33] and thinly slicing them.
[12:34] This one is extra enormous,
[12:36] so she counts as two large garlic cloves.
[12:38] And we're going to just
very thinly slice them
[12:40] as evenly as you can.
[12:42] A smaller knife like this
is really helpful for this.
[12:45] Even more helpful and faster is a mandolin
[12:47] if you have one of these things.
[12:49] But it only works with
a large garlic clove
[12:51] because if it's small, you
don't have a lot of surface area
[12:54] if it's small, but a big
one like this is great.
[12:56] And always wear your glove
or protection, be safe.
[12:59] Look how cute these are.
[13:00] Just gonna see if the quinoa is ready
[13:03] and you're gonna get a
better texture on your quinoa
[13:05] if you spread it out on a sheet pan
[13:07] after it's done cooking.
[13:08] Just spread it out so that it
dries out and doesn't clump.
[13:11] Can kind of get like soggy and mushy
[13:13] if you let it sit in the pan.
[13:14] Back to our garlicy situation,
[13:16] we're gonna use two
teaspoons of coriander seeds.
[13:18] I am obsessed with these.
[13:20] They add this really lovely crunch,
[13:22] they've got this lemony
citrusy bright flavor,
[13:25] a little warmth, so good.
[13:26] That's all though.
[13:27] No other Indian spices, don't worry.
[13:28] And we're gonna use a half cup of pepitas
[13:31] or shelled pumpkin seeds.
[13:32] These are super high in protein,
[13:34] probably the most high
in protein seed there is.
[13:37] So I love using them.
[13:38] We're gonna warm two
tablespoons of olive oil
[13:41] in a small frying pan
[13:43] just over medium heat until it's warm.
[13:45] You don't wanna get too hot
so the garlic doesn't burn.
[13:48] And this is pretty much
my like go-to party trick
[13:51] for really flavorful, fun, crunchy,
[13:54] delicious flavor when I
don't have that much time.
[13:56] It's basically gently fry
some garlic with some spices
[13:59] and then pour it over
whatever you're eating.
[14:00] It's great, in goes to garlic.
[14:02] All right, so this is
what our garlic looks like
[14:04] and if any of the slices
are sticking together,
[14:07] try to separate them with your spatula
[14:08] which is what I'm trying to
do with one hand while I film.
[14:10] Starting to just slightly get golden.
[14:12] That's when you wanna add your pepitas
[14:14] and coriander seeds.
[14:15] Now this needs two to three minutes
[14:16] and you wanna stir frequently
[14:18] so that the spices and
the garlic don't burn.
[14:20] When the garlic starts to
turn brown around the edges,
[14:22] that's when you wanna add
our final two ingredients
[14:25] just for 15, 30 seconds at the most.
[14:28] Some chili flakes, standard
red pepper flake is fine
[14:31] but I've got this amazing
stuff from Burlap and Barrel,
[14:34] my favorite spice company,
red jalapeno flakes.
[14:36] I'm using half teaspoon.
[14:37] Again, adjust to your spice
level and some flaky salt.
[14:41] This is not flaky salt,
this is flaky salt.
[14:44] (calm jazz music)
[14:46] Forgot to mention the lentils.
[14:47] So let's talk about them.
[14:48] These are pre-cooked steamed lentils.
[14:50] Normally I do cook my
own lentils from scratch
[14:52] but you're not gonna have time
to cook them in 20 minutes.
[14:55] I prefer these refrigerated ones
[14:56] that come in packs like this.
[14:57] Instead of the like canned lentils,
[14:59] I think the texture and
the taste is just better.
[15:02] I did not open this right.
[15:03] This is a really terrible way to open it
[15:04] but I've made my bed.
[15:05] You need a half cut per serving.
[15:07] You can find the full measurements
[15:08] for like the ideal protein
range in the blog post.
[15:12] I'm just gonna eyeball it since
I have made a mess at this.
[15:17] Okay, just gonna eyeball this as well
[15:19] and I gotta be honest at this point,
[15:22] I'm not interested in this meal.
[15:23] Plain quinoa, store
bought steamed lentils,
[15:25] do not sign me up.
[15:26] But with those condiments,
something magical happens.
[15:29] Let's get a nice big dollop
of the, oh, that was messy.
[15:32] Okay, we're gonna get a nice big dollop
[15:33] of the ricotta on here
[15:35] and some of our crunchy
garlicy spices and pepitas.
[15:40] That looks a lot better.
[15:41] Yum, not bad for 20 minutes.
[15:43] If you have something
pickled in your fridge,
[15:45] this would be a great
opportunity to use that.
[15:47] Pickled carrots, cabbage, I've
got pickled chili peppers.
[15:50] If you've got store bought sauerkraut,
[15:51] you can add some of that as well.
[15:53] (calm upbeat music)
[15:56] This actually tastes pretty
gourmet, the ricotta,
[15:58] the garlic, the pepitas, the spices.
[16:00] I can totally see myself
making this for dinner
[16:02] even though I don't like quinoa.
[16:03] And if you'd like to see
even more 20 minute meals,
[16:05] I've got more right here, bye.