Green Protein Bowl
Jeremy and I are currently in Week 5 of P90X - an insane workout system that has us doing push-ups, pull-ups and superman bananas on a daily basis. We're constantly sore and poking at our achy muscles. Now, we were already pretty fit people, working out on a daily basis but recently finding ourselves at a plateau. I want muscles. As you know, I want to be a post-apocalyptic heroine - I've got the outfits - now I just need the 6-pack abs to match.
What I'm learning through this whole thing is that it's not just the energy you spend and weights you lift but that you've got to have the right fuel to get you through your day. In general, I know we eat healthy and I subscribe to the Michael Pollan food philosophy of eat real food, not too much, mostly plants. I am not interested in protein powders or supplements - I feel like I should be able to get everything I need from what I eat. However, with my new sort-of-vegan eating habits and the desire to build muscle I've been more curious about exactly what I've been putting into my body. It can be difficult to track the nutritional information when you're cooking from scratch with farmers market vegetables that don't have labels. But then I found this website that figures it out for you. 
Nutrition Data for the Green Protein Bowl
This is only a fraction of the information provided about this meal. Again, I let my body dictate what I eat and when but it is really interesting to see the breakdown of information like this.
The Green Protein Bowl
1 c quinoa (pronounced keen-wah)
1 bunch of broccoli
2 packages of mushrooms
1 large bag of spinach
1 bunch of fresh basil
1/2 c walnuts
3 tbs olive oil (divided)
3 cloves of garlic
juice from half a lemon
Herbs de Provence
Salt
Heat your oven to 375F. Wash your broccoli and mushrooms. Remove the stems of your mushrooms and discard. Chop the caps into quarters. Cut the broccoli florets into bite size pieces. Toss together in a large bowl with 1 tbs of olive oil, salt, and Herbs de Provence. Pour into a casserole pan and bake for 25 minutes or just until the edges of the broccoli florets are a little browned and mushrooms are cooked down.
Rinse your quinoa and bring to a boil in a medium sauce pan (1c quinoa / 2c water). Once boiling cover and bring to a simmer. Once all the water is absorbed your quinoa is done - it usually takes 15-20 minutes.
As your veggies are roasting assemble your pesto. Combine your walnuts, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 bunch of basil and as much spinach as you can fit into your food processor. Blend together as you slowly pour 2 tbs of olive oil and the juice from 1/2 a lemon into the mix. As everything breaks down continue to add more spinach and blend. I wound up adding a whole bag of spinach to this pesto.
Add your cooked quinoa and pesto to the bowl you used to toss the veggies in. Mix together. Remove your roasted veggies from the oven and pour over the pesto quinoa mix - liquid and all. Fold the veggies in and serve.
Serves 4 very hungry people.
I'm not any type of health nut, but if you are worried about eating vegan and getting enough protein after your work outs you should look into Spirulina.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirulina_%28dietary_supplement%29
It's a blue-green algae that has a crazy high protein content. I'm not sure what you consider a 'supplement' but I really like it in my smoothies :)
Loren - thanks for the tip - I'll check it out! I suppose what I mean by supplement is more along the lines of vitamins and protein powders with a ton of ingredients I can't pronounce.
Week 5?! That is badass, ma'am. I tried to slowly get used to P90X by trying out the ab and core workouts and about died. And I work out 1 to 2 times a day. Shoot me.
I've recently become obsessed with quinoa. This recipe sounds fantastic!
Thanks for the recipe!!! Love it
btw, bird nest (www.geocities.jp/hongkong_bird_nest/index_e.htm) is made up of about 58% soluable proteins...the highest amoung all food and even synetic protein powders
it greatly increase tissue regeneration
we are on week 12 of p90x and we also really upped the protein, which has really helped with the energy, but holy crow - i am still sore - i did shoulders and arms 2 days ago and still feel it!
Carlee - I'm jealous. I can't wait to be on week 12.
That looks so good! Have you heard of Brendan Brazier? He's a vegan triathlete and has an amazing food philosophy for fueling your body. I follow a lot of his suggestions ... and I'm not vegan! :)
http://www.brendanbrazier.com/
So I had no idea what a Superman Banana was... Had my husband look it up. To which he said it defies description, got down on the floor and then showed me what it was. Now he is a goofball anyway, so this was spectacularly funny... Thanks for the great recipe and the morning giggle. We will definitely be adding both to our *must do* lists.
Echoing the Brendan Brazier comment. He's got two books out- Thrive and Thrive Fitness. Also, I'd recommend the No Meat Athlete blog. If you do decide to ever try a protein supplement, I drink NutriBiotic vegan rice protein mixed with unsweetened almond milk- it isn't delicious but it works if you don't feel like cooking in the morning.
We're working our way up to p90x so y'all have my total admiration.
That looks amazing and now that I don't have a personal aversion to quinoa, I'm gonna fix it up green bowl style. Hey also if you find that you can't connect to those Blowfish boots in the appropriate way, I'd be happy try and make a connection with them.
Also I must have had a previous blog on blogger called Ophelia, I'll chalk that up to too much beer before surfing the web and so that previous comment from "Ophelia" ... that was actually me.
Ophelia - I'm SO confused. But I think I know who you are. And I thought about you and your new acceptance of quinoa when I posted this recipe!
OK. Now I changed it correctly. It was me.
Phew! Identity crisis averted!
So here's the thing... Quinoa was my saving grace with spinning (cycling) because of my gluten avoidance. Then I got really burned out on it because I would lazily throw it into a bowl and add veggies which as you may know, turns out sort of bland. Now there is hope. I think the addition of pesto is going to turn this thing around. Just in time for my new spin regimen.
That protein bowl actually seems good. Should give it a try one of these days.
That sounds yummy and super healthy! I will have to try it!
i love michael pollan. his approach to health is real and attainable.
your bowl of green looks delish!
this looks SO GOOD. M & I are doing a different Beachbody Workout - INSANITY. Love it! And I'm definitely going to make this, thank you for sharing!!
I'm still doing my bootcamp class 3X a week, and my instructor SWEARS by (and reminds us daily about) upping our protein. Thanks for the recipe and nutrition facts. I'm not a big fan of protein powder either. But I want muscles, darn it! xo.
I want to know the space that you use to do P90X looks like. My husband and I are frustrated with the program as we're not sure our space works for using the program. And considering we're both over 6' with standard ceiling heights those jumps just aren't practical in our space. As my scraped knuckles could attest before I quit. :o/
Nichol - We work out in our living room. We're fortunate to have 12' ceilings and lots of space in there (for being in a historical home).
Do you eat this green mushy stuff everyday? Cause it looks like it would get old fast.
I'm almost convinced you are eating to match your kitchen decor...
Kevin - Nah, we only eat something like this once a week. Other times we're eating stuff like saag paneer (with tofu), Mexican potatoes w/ black beans, lentils and rice, Thai or Indian curry with chick peas and veggies. I like to mix it up.
Haha - but it's true - my entire life is carefully art directed so that everything matches.
Hi Hi, just found your blog through Pacing the Panic Room. Love it! I'm in the middle of week 6 of P90X. Woo! That stuff is ding-dang hard.
My husband has been making quinoa lately. Our one-year old loves it!
-crystal
thanks for sharing this recipe. I'm a new follower...found you over from someone's pin over at pinterest.
I recently just finished P90X and I'm so glad to be done! It was a bit intense for me since I have two rugrats, work full time and my BF travels most of the week for work. I'm following the UltraSimple Diet now (love it!) and starting to do some TAM mixed in with other stuff. This recipe is just what I needed since I'm veering toward the vegan (but not strictly) side of things these days!
Andrew & Crystal - We're in week 6 too! It is super hard. And I'm hungry all the time!
Chelsea - I'm glad you found your way over here! I cannot WAIT to be done with P90X. I'm excited though that I can already see results. I'm definitely getting stronger.
Kathleen, I'm hungry all the time too! Now that we're in Phase 2, my husband made these really great Fruity Oaty Bars from the book: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I'll eat just a portion of one and it does a good job of holding me over between meals.
The ingredients include: rolled oats, spelt flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, orange juice, flax seeds, vanilla extract, canola oil, brown rice syrup, malt syrup, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and cranberries.
-crystal
I made the protein bowl last night. It was yummy! I used cashews instead of walnuts and added vegan sour cream to it. Thanks for the recipe!
Post a Comment