Easy muscle-building meals – Marcella

Here’s some of our versions of the bodybuilding-style meal that, in the meat-eating world of Flex and Muscle & Fitness and so on, is the ubiquitous chicken, brown rice, and token green vegetable.

Every day for lunch we eat one of the following combinations of boringly wholesome food, microwaved so it couldn’t be easier on a work day:

• quinoa, tofu, and TVP (textured vegetable protein, available dried in the bulk natural foods section usually – the water in the tofu rehydrates it when microwaved)
• quinoa and black beans
• brown rice, lentils, and sauteed onions
• brown rice and kidney beans
• whole wheat couscous, tomato sauce, and tofu…

The ratio of legume to grain is usually 2:1 ish, and I usually just spice it with a bit of salt and pepper. Course we also have a protein shake and salad and grapefruit.

Some dinners:
That’s just Yves Lemon Herb “Chicken” skewers over brown rice with onions and peppers with asparagus on the side – a natural diuretic. Just saute onion and pepper in the rice pot before adding the water and continuing as usual. To cook the asparagus use non-stick cooking spray, minimal salt, and pepper, saute on med-high for a while, then add a bit of water, cover and cook a few minutes. Don’t let it get mushy.

Gardein “Beef-less tips” (you will not believe how authentic Gardein stuff is – it’s kind of frightening – available in the frozen section), thinly sliced and sauteed with onion and shredded cabbage and served with brown rice.

Spaghetti squash and tomato sauce with Gardein “Chicken tenders” (forzen section) and salad, always salad even if it’s not pictured in the above meals. Derek says all the fresh greens we eat combat metabolic acidosis that can be a probem on a high-protein diet. Anyway, spaghetti squash is easy – slice in half crosswise, place face down on a baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Then shred with a fork onto your plate and top with sauce.