We've seen the importance of protein on this blog before. We know we need to eat at least 1.6g of protein per kg of body weight daily for optimal fitness results.
Let's take a look now at some healthy protein sources and their recipes.
All of the following recipes are more on the basic side. Most of them can be elevated with a nice side dish or sauce. For simplicity, I've only explained the basic version to avoid overcomplicating them.
I always encourage people to create recipes that they love, these are just a way to get you started in your culinary endeavours.
Pan seared Salmon with Arugula salad
Salmon is the king of protein in my opinion. It is packed with healthy nutrients and healthy fats. My favourite way to cook is to pan-fry it, I love the crispy feeling of it when I bite into it.
This will take you less than 10 minutes to make.
Ingredients:
Salmon filet with skin
Arugula
Cranberries
Goat cheese
Sliced almonds
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Instructions:
Pan-fry the salmon. Pre-heat your skillet, add oil (not the olive oil, use any cooking oil), and put the filet, skin side down on the skillet. Cook for 4-5 min depending on the the thickness. At the last second, flip the filet to sear the meat side, 15-30 seconds.
In a bowl, toss all the salad ingredients together and drizzle the olive oil and balsamic vinegar over it. Season with salt and pepper or herbs of your choosing.
Add a side of rice or pasta if you're feeling very hungry.
Code and asparagus
A leaner fish than salmon, cod is more mild. Finding spices that you like to elevate the taste of your dish will go a long way. I personally only use salt and pepper but paprika is also a great option.
Baking cod is easier than frying it so that's what I usually do.
Ingredients:
Cod filet
Asparagus
Lemon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Instruction
Pre-heat your oven to 400F.
Spread olive oil on the filet, put it on a baking sheet or dish and cook for 13-15 minutes.
While it's cooking, steam the asparagus. Leave them in the steamer for 3-5 minutes. If you don't have a steamer, like me, you can boil the asparagus for 3-5 min.
Serve together. Drizzle lemon over the dish.
Sardines on toast
A super simple snack, this only requires two ingredients: the sardines and the bread. I like whole wheat bread for this.
Another way I like to have sardines in my salads. I just make my usual salad and add the sardines to it.
Baked chicken breast with rice and broccoli: the fitness classic
Ok I know there are tons of tastier ways to cook chicken. But you HAVE to master this one before moving on to tastier stuff. It's a rite of passage into the fitness sphere.
And for the record, I still eat this dish almost daily. The simplicity of it, the ease of prep and storage of it makes it a must in my day to day diet.
Ingredients:
Chicken
Rice
Broccoli
Salt and pepper
Oregano
Olive oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F (200C).
Rub olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano on the chicken breast.
Once the oven is ready, put the chicken in for 30 min
Cook rice. Bring water to boil then put the rice in it and bring to simmer. Use a 2-1 water to rice ratio
Boil/steam the broccolis, 3-5 minutes.
Serve together, season rice with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mustard for the chicken. You can choose to go ultra classic and put soy sauce on the rice.
Steak with potatoes and brussel sprouts
Beef is something I eat less of. It's more for special occasions. My go to dish involves a good steak (T-bone, prime rib, rib eye, porter) with potatoes.
I try to add some greens when I can, with brussel sprouts being the easy one to make.
Ingredients
Your favourite cut of steak
Brussel sprouts
Butter
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Oregano
Instructions
Preheat a skillet and oven (425F, 210C)
Cut the brussel sprouts in halves or quarters. Same with the potatoes
Toss the sprouts in olive oil, salt and pepper (add any other spices that you like). Put in the oven for 35 min. Same deal for the potatoes. Use different baking sheets for the sprouts and potatoes. Both cooking times are similar, but you'll have to make the judgment call to decide when they are done. The potatoes will be done when they look brown and crispy. You can always poke them with a knife to check. When the knife goes in easily, they're done. Sprouts are done when they also look brown and crispy.
15 minutes before the sprouts are done, cook the steak. Add butter to the skillet. If the butter burns and smokes like crazy, the skillet is too hot. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of the steak. I usually do 3 minutes per side on high heat.
When the steak is done cooking, let it rest for 10 minutes.
Morning omelette
If you want an easy morning egg dish make scrambled eggs. That's what I do when I'm short on time.
To make the eggs tastier, turn it into an omelette. Takes an extra 5 minutes to do.
Ingredients
2-4 eggs
Bell peppers
Basil
Cherry tomatoes
Feta
Instructions
Dice the bell peppers and cherry tomatoes
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients
Preheat skillet on medium heat. Coat the skillet with cooking oil and pour the mixture.
Gently stir until cooked
Protein breakfast bowl with greek yogurt
I love Greek yogurt for its consistency, taste and protein content. This recipe can be used either as a breakfast or snack whenever you need one.
Ingredients
Greek yogurt
Almonds
Hemp hearts
Bananas
Strawberries
A little honey
Directions
Mix everything in a bowl and enjoy
Notes:
For even higher protein content, choose a low fat Greek yogurt, This will change its taste a bit so I'll let you make the call on this one. I personally like the full fat one better.
Protein smoothie with hemp hearts
Hemp hearts have the highest protein concentration of all these foods! You probably wouldn't eat 100g of them in one sitting, but it's definitely an ingredient you want to have around your house.
You can use them in salads, smoothies, cereal, breakfast bowls...pretty much anywhere.
Ingredients:
4 table spoons hemp heart
Your favourite milk
Blueberries
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 banana
0.5 cup spinach
Directions
Put all the ingredients in a blender/smoothie maker, blend and enjoy
Spicy lentils with carrots
You have the option of buying canned lentils or fresh lentils. I've mainly used canned lentils in the past for their ease of use (you just have to reheat them), but now I predominantly use fresh lentils.
Using fresh lentils just means you have to rinse them and cook them for 20 minutes.
You can use lentils to increase the protein content of salads, use them in tacos, add them to pasta/rice, there are many options.
Lentils are bland, in my opinion, so when we do a lentil focus dish like this one, we will need a few ingredients to make it flavourful.
Ingredients
1 cup lentils
2-3 carrots
Half an onion
Couple garlic cloves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Chili flakes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2-3 cups of water or vegetable broth
Instruction
Dice the onion, carrots and mince the garlic.
Put a little bit of oil in deep sauce pan or pot and sauté the onions and garlic for 5 min.
Add the carrots and sauté them for a couple minutes. this is just to make them a bit crispy and bring out their flavour.
Add the lentils, tomato paste, spices and liquid. The amount of liquid you add will depend on the consistency you want your final dish to have. Having more liquid will make it more soupy (which is delicious), and less liquid will make it easier to strain if you want to add this to another dish
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20-30 minutes. The lentils and carrots should both be tender. Serve as a side dish or have it as a main dish.
Chick pea salad
Canned chick peas will be the easiest here. Just rinse them when you take them out of the can.
Chick peas are an excellent option to increase the protein content of any green salads. This recipe is one of many, many options you can choose from. You can create your own salads that you love simply by combining 3-4 vegetables.
My rule of thumb is to combine vegetables of different colours. The simple reason is that it looks nice and it brings many different nutrients.
Ingredients
1 cup lentils
1 cucumber
Feta
Red onions
Cherry tomatoes
Dressing: olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice
Instructions
Chop the cucumbers into quarters and cut the tomatoes in half. Dice the red onion
Mix all the ingredients in a salad bowl, sprinkle the feta on top. Use an amount that you enjoy but don't be naughty.
Drizzle the dressing and enjoy!
These ten protein rich recipes are going to help you reach your optimal protein intake each day. They cover dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Pick out the ones that you like and practice getting good at making them. Feel free to add any personal touches to make them to your liking.
The more you do a recipe, the more you will find ways to enhance it to your personal preferences.
Bonne appetit!
Clem
Yummy! The salmon recipe especially is very tasty.