Month: November 2016

In case you can’t make it out from the photo:

Red lentils with steamed cauliflower and two whole farm eggs over easy.

Not full on vegan (because of the eggs) but a great source of both plant and animal-based proteins.

As a man in my mid 40s I choose to eat foods that are rich in nutrients and high in protein.

From the photo you probably can’t tell but the cauliflowers are barely steamed. They are definitely not mushy but not raw either. The best thing would be to eat them raw, nutritionally speaking, but from time to time you can opt for a quick steaming. You can achieve this by tossing the cauliflower florettes in boiling hot water only for a few minutes.

And here is the secret! Get them out of the boiling water and rinse them with cold water as soon as you find them already crisp but not yet raw. The cold water will ensure that the florettes will no longer boil on the inside and get softer just due to their own temperature.

This method is is great to preserve most of the nutrients inside of any vegetable. As you probably guessed it, heating anything above 110°F (it is 44°C for my European friends) will start destroying the enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and other valuable nutrients in your food. The longer you heat it the less nutrients will remain.

Now let’s talk about the red lentils!
Four those of you, who think you can’t get decent amount of quality protein from plant-based foods, I only have two words: Red lentils!

For those of you who are not the greatest fans of red lentils, I only have one word: legumes!

If you want to pack on more healthy muscles, put more fibers, good carbs, good fats in your body, legumes are the way to go!

I love red lentils because no soaking is required! Unlike beans, you can toss a cup of dry red lentils in a few cups of boiling water right away, cook it for a few minutes and BAM! Healthy deliciousness galore!

For good measures, I added a splash of cold pressed sunflower oil to the water and tried to cook the lentils “al dente”. Cooked, but not yet mushy.I prefer a little bit of a crispy, chewy texture over the mushy overcooked lentil “stew” version.

To achieve this you will need to keep on sampling it every 20-30 seconds after the initial first few minutes. WARNING: They cook quickly!!

No let’s talk about the eggs…
As a borderline vegan eating eggs is one of my pain points: I know I shouldn’t eat them (not just from ethical or cruelty concerns) but also they have been shown to create/support an acidic environment in your body which is technically the fertile breeding soil (if there such a thing) for the New Age health problems like cardiovascular diseases, type II. diabetes, different forms of cancer, and so on…

Eggs are one of my favorite animal-based foods. Unfortunately, they have both a dark side  and a light side to them.

Eggs are really nutritious if you look at the macro nutrients of both the egg white and the yolk.
Their micro nutrient content is also amazing. When they are raw.
What? Whoever eats them raw? Bruce Lee, maybe?

Cooked eggs are proven to be most beneficial to be eaten when either boiled soft (the yolk is still liquid) or quickly fried sunny side up. (It is for the very same reason because the yolk is still liquid.)

If they are hard (either boiled, baked or fried) the good cholesterol in the liquid yolk turns into the evil stepmother bad cholesterol…

I had mine over easy which means I made eggs sunny side up then quickly flipped them over. As a matter fact, I tried to pull off an “in-betweener” by not overly cooking it on the other side so most of the yolk stayed liquid. (As you can tell from the photo I wasn’t very good, some of it came out…)

As far as spicing goes, I only used salt and freshly ground black peppers. These are my two staples. My favorites too. But then again, I am just a simple man with simple pleasures. 🙂

If your taste buds need more diversity you can experiment with different spices and flavors. Eating clean is a lot easier when your taste buds are entertained.

The preparation time was about five minutes and the cost was very low.

So, if you’re one of those who say eating healthy is either expensive or takes a lot of time to prepare take a look at my lunch again and reconsider!

Remember, excuses will not get you anywhere. Improvements will.

Thank you for reading, and stay healthy my friends!