Vegetable proteins of the vegan diet
The vegan diet excludes completely meat, fish and animal derivatives; milk, cheeses, eggs, honey are forbidden together with all the most common industrial products that contains these ingredients or other derivatives such as jellies and animal food colouring.
Even spritz and the gummy bears are forbidden! In fact, the former uses Aperol or Campari, which red colour is given by the cochineal, a little parasite that lives on the plants; the latter contains jellies that can be obtained by the boiling of the animal bones.
What do Vegans eat?
Vegan diet means a choice to eat healthy and in compliance with the animal universe; thus the first ingredients that can’t miss in a veggie table are: fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains, better if whole.
And what about the proteins? They are vegetable proteins!
Besides the legumes that are rich in proteins, such as the beans, lentils, lupines and chickpeas, there are other protein sources obtained by the soy… we introduce you the main vegetable proteins!
TOFU
It is the so-called soy cheese, obtained by the yellow soybeans through a process similar to the dairy products of the cheeses. The bean produces milk that is boiled, blended and filtered (to divide the milk from the residuals, called okara). Then it is curdled with a coagulant that can be the common lemon juice, vinegar, nigari or the calcium chloride or magnesia.
The rennet is pressed in block and preserved in the fridge. Tofu is a protein-based food with few fats and 0 cholesterol, 76 calories in 100 gr and it is perfect for who is following a low calorie diet or for who pays attention to the fats.
It is a versatile ingredient in cooking, the taste is delicate and even if it is considered often a fault, actually it allows it to absorb the aromas of the other ingredients cooked with it. It’s up to the chef’s creativity the ability to season it and create different pairings.
We advise you to prepare it:
– Breaded with herbs and fried
– In meatballs mixed with vegetables
– Blended with cream to stuff crepes or slices of toasted bread (for example with black olives, capers and dried tomatoes)
– Diced or as a cream to season pasta or rice
– Sautéed in a pan with oil, garlic, cherry tomatoes and basil!
TEMPEH
The tempeh is another soy derivative and although it is really appreciated by who eat it, the majority of the people don’t know it! It is a product obtained from the yellow soybeans fermentation. For first, the seeds are drenched, smashed and seared; the result has to ferment for at least 24 hours with the help of an acid that can be vinegar or the mushroom Rhizopus oligosporus. It is preserved in brine or vacuum-packed.
Its nutritional properties? They are excellent! A lot of proteins, 20g out of 100 and 170 Kcal; it has little fats, potassium and mineral salts.
It is advisable sautéed in a pan with vegetables or as a breaded cutlet!
