Plant-based proteins aren't just for vegans or vegetarians, they're a tasty, healthy option for everyone to enjoy. Join us as we chat with Getty Stewart, Professional Home Economist, to learn tips and ideas for where to find plant based proteins and how to add more of them to our weekly meals.
Plant-based proteins aren't just for vegans or vegetarians, they're a tasty, healthy option for everyone to enjoy. Join us as we chat with Getty Stewart, Professional Home Economist, to learn tips and ideas for where to find plant based proteins and how to add more of them to our weekly meals.
Welcome to the Manitoba Agriculture and Food Knowledge Exchange podcast. I'm Jordan Cieciwa and today we're going to be giving you some ideas on how to utilize more plant proteins. The Canadian Food Guide came out and they made the suggestion that Canadians start to utilize and learn more about plant-based proteins. So we've got Getty Stewart here, and Getty's going to help us understand protein, how to cook with it, how to eat it, basically just a few little changes in life to make some big impacts. So Getty, welcome. Welcome to the podcast.
Getty Stewart:Thanks so much for having me. It's great to be here.
Jordan Cieciwa:So first, before we jump into this, what kind of a career have you had? Because I've seen you everywhere and I mean, I've heard rumours that you create food, create recipes, you teach. It's just one of those things where, when you define yourself, how do you do it?
Getty Stewart:I define myself as someone who really loves whole fresh local seasonal food. And I am passionate about sharing tips and ideas and recipes for how people can cook with fresh whole ingredients and how to cook with it, preserve it and enjoy it.
Jordan Cieciwa:And I love that because we had Dr. Kim Ominski on the podcast a few weeks back and she discussed with us something as a researcher that resonated with me, she said, as a researcher, I want to give people facts, not tell them how to eat. And I think that somebody like yourself with the career you've built on just saying, here's how you cook whole foods, you choose the ones you want. And now with the Canadian Food Guide, giving us the advice it did, we've got people that are able to choose any version of protein that they want and eat any whole foods that they want, as long as they're enjoying it.
Getty Stewart:That's exactly right. Is it, the new food guide really is heavy on whole foods. It also actually makes the recommendation to cook more often at home because we know whole foods cooked at home are just so much, so much better for us.
Jordan Cieciwa:And it allows us to enjoy time around the table and it allows us to be very aware of the food that we're eating. And that's, I think that's a big part of this too.
Getty Stewart:Yeah, for sure. Just really understanding food or knowing a little bit about the food that you're sourcing and, really goes a long way to being able to enjoy it, feel confident and comfortable with what you're eating.
Jordan Cieciwa:So let's talk sustainable proteins and let's jump right into this on how would you create a recipe knowing that now the, basically the table's open, you can choose anything you want.
Getty Stewart:Yeah. I, you know, what I love about this new food guide is it doesn't prescribe, it makes certain recommendations. It's telling us to enjoy a wide variety of foods. It's encouraging us to try plant-based proteins. It is not saying, and I think this is important for people to know, it does not say eliminate meat from your diet, eliminate dairy from your diet. It is recommending that we add and create more variety. And that's certainly a takeaway for me. And so we get to explore all the different types of proteins. And we are so lucky here in Manitoba, because we do produce all the different kinds of proteins that you can possibly imagine, maybe not nuts, but there's so many different varieties and we grow it all here in Manitoba. So we are super, super fortunate about that. And so now, our pleasure, our ability at home is to be able to say, okay, what are we going to put on our plate? We have all these options. And certainly here in Canada, we're very familiar with our meat-based proteins. We know how to do our chicken and our pork and our beef. We know how to incorporate cheese into our meals, but now is an opportunity to explore some of those other proteins, those plant-based proteins. And so that's where I'm happy to give a few tips on how do you do that?
Jordan Cieciwa:I was just going to say, this is the perfect segue into what does Getty do at dinner time? What if you're making a decision or heck any meal, cause you got breakfast options, you got lunch. How do you take your day and look at it and say, okay, today I'm going to make something completely different or I'm going to make a substitution of a chicken breast for tofu.
Getty Stewart:Yeah. So when I'm on my full game and so this doesn't happen all the time, but when I'm really firing on all cylinders, I do make a weekly meal plan. So I don't have, so I'm not stuck making the last minute decision.
Jordan Cieciwa:I'm just going to stop right there. And the reason that is something that is a skill set for you, we should have talked about this off the start is. You have a degree in home economics. So you're a cheater on that.
Getty Stewart:So I'm a planner. I have a little bit of background on this for sure. And I also have a bachelor in education, so I could technically be a home-ec teacher. But I choose to teach adults in community settings and in workshops. But yes, I do have that skillset and just planning out the meals and it doesn't have to be, you know, tricky. It can be as quick and easy as you know, the back of an envelope writing out what am I t o eat Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, make a shopping list based on that. And you'll quickly see a pattern emerge like, hmm, Mondays do tend to be o ur meatless d ays or Tuesdays do tend to be t aco Tuesdays, or it just helps. And with the planning and meal prep throughout the entire week. So when I do look at my week, I am finding now that we are incorporating more plant-based meals throughout the week. So we're probably at two to three meals a week that we choose to go plant-based, the rest we're more of the traditional meat-based protein dishes. And so I think about the factors that go into my planning are what's everybody doing? Where's everybody going to be at dinner time? It was like, turns out Wednesday nobody's home, or people need to be at 10 different places at the same time. And so I need quick and easy meals or something in the crock pot or a soup or something that people can ladle out themselves before they run off to the next event. So that's something that I sort of carve out for Wednesdays, quick and easy one pot type of meals. Then I think about what are some options, we have some favourites. What does everybody like? What does, you know, if one of my kids isn't home on Thursday and I know they don't like hamburgers, well, maybe that's hamburger night, right? So, really try and consider that, and then just a flavour and what we like and what I feel like making, what my schedule looks like, and then mix and match and really create a nice variety. I often start with Sunday night dinner. What can I make that I can then repurpose on Monday night or Tuesday nights? So if it's chicken dinner Sunday night, I'll save that chicken for something on Tuesday, maybe that taco night and then Mondays I'll do something different. Maybe use those leftover veggies, the potatoes, and maybe make a tofu Shepherd's pie using the leftover mashed potatoes and vegetables and try that. So, uh, normally I may have used ground beef for that Shepherd's pie, but knowing that I want to incorporate more plant-based proteins, I'm going to try the tofu in there and see what that looks like.
Jordan Cieciwa:Uh, my mouth is watering as we're doing this, we're too close to a meal as we are right now. So here is what I'm hearing as you're talking is you're listing a lot of what I would call a whole food. We're not talking, you haven't said, I'm going to go buy name brand X and heat it up. We're talking about cooking real food. And this is something that I as a health person in general, when I was in university, when I started to learn how the human body works, when I started to get really passionate about health, I was shocked at how much cooking real food affected my health and well-being. I was, I thought before, I was eating well by taking things that were healthy out of a package, they looked like whole foods, but this is something to advocate on. And being from Manitoba, like you said, we've got all of those protein sources. We've got all of the plant-based foods that you could want. So let's kind of discuss that on cooking and whole foods and Manitoba.
Getty Stewart:Absolutely. The whole foods approach has definitely sort of where my bias is. I really do prefer cooking foods that I can identify. And I know what I'm cooking versus the packaged food. And that's part of the Canada Food Guide recommendation as well is cook less processed foods. And I know that a lot of the plant based vegetarian vegan stuff, foods that are available on market, are pre-packaged and processed, but we don't have to go with that route. Let me share with you some of the whole foods that are good plant-based proteins. So starting with, this is probably my favourite and the type of food that is most easily incorporated into people's existing diet is our pulses, our beans, our chickpeas our lentils and those kinds of things. So Pinto beans, black beans, all of those, and the good news is you don't have to go to the dry state and try and soak them, and then cook them. Go reach for the canned beans. They are every bit as nutritionally sound as if you were starting from super scratch. So don't be afraid or concerned with using canned beans.
Jordan Cieciwa:And you said it there, don't be afraid. This is again, something that as a non-chef, as a kid that grew up and you know in the country playing sports, running around, I didn't cook until all of a sudden I found myself not in my parents' home. And the first time I ever started cooking with quinoa or cooking with, cause this is something that when you learn the reason for using pulses, the fibers, the nutrients that are in it, I didn't realize you can just put the stuff in water and leave it. And that's, I think that that's something more people need to know is, it's not hard to cook with this stuff.
Getty Stewart:Not hard to cook with beans or pulses at all. And if you're so, I suggest you start slowly, gradually however you want to say that. So if you're making a pot of chili and it's your favourite beef chili, you're probably adding a can of beans to that, right? And because that's, chili demands some good beans, so be sure to rinse off your canned beans very well. That helps reduce some of the sodium in them. All except your small beans and tomato sauce. You want to keep that sauce in there. But instead of going to a completely vegetarian or vegan version of a chili, just add more beans instead of just one can add two beans, maybe do half the meat that you're used to doing and add an extra can of beans or add a different type of beans. So if you're already using the red kidney beans maybe you're using the beans and tomato sauce, maybe try adding chickpeas to your existing chili recipe and so you're just adding more plant proteins. You're getting the added fibre and nutrients that come with adding the plant-based proteins. Maybe when you're making a soup, you're making a vegetable soup, add a can of beans. You're upping the protein content. You're going to be fuller longer, it's very satisfying. And people usually don't object too much about having a bean or two in a soup, stew, chili or so forth. So you're probably not going to get a lot of resistance from anyone around your table that might be saying, no way I'm eating plant-based protein.
Jordan Cieciwa:It's funny. I wish everyone could see me nodding along and taking notes here on this. This is a whole stuff I would've never thought to do that. Just like, I don't know why it is, but when I see a recipe pop up in front of me, I always think, either I'm making a vegan thing, if I'm going plant-based or I'm making a meat thing, and I've never thought that yeah, cause I don't mind black beans, kidney beans in my chili. They make me just as happy as the meat chunks.
Getty Stewart:And so it doesn't have to be all or nothing, right? We can totally compromise and switch things up and mix, mix and match. Maybe you do want to go whole all the way and have a vegetarian chili. That's cool too. I love, we go through three different types of chili. We have our standard beef, kind of chili with beans, we have pork and bean chili and we have a vegetarian chili with quinoa that we rotate through. So just variety is fantastic.
Jordan Cieciwa:I also make a killer pulled chicken. Oh yeah, pulled chicken chili. That's my style too.
Getty Stewart:So add beans to that. Add, with the chicken, I would recommend some white beans, some white kidney beans and away you go. Another source of plant proteins are nuts and seeds. So this is where I use nuts and seeds often in breakfast foods and lunch foods and snacks. So even if I'm not using them as dinner, this is how I would incorporate it throughout the rest of the day. So if I'm having a bowl of oatmeal in the morning which is, you're already off to a good start, just top it with a few nuts and seeds to incorporate a few more plant proteins and get a little hit of protein first thing in the morning to really see you through the day. Use your nut butters, so peanut butter or almond butter, they're a source of protein. You can mix that into a smoothie. Hey, did you know that you can add beans, going back to the pulses? You can add that to your morning smoothie as well. So you can get a little bit of protein, it's going to add a little bit of creamy texture. And again, here I would recommend a white bean. So, you know, you're not getting the colour to influence people's taste preferences, but, yeah. So adding nuts and seeds at lunch or on a snack, if you're having a cream cheese on crackers or a bagel, top it with a mixture of nuts and seeds. So, often times I will do pepitas, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, some chia, some hemp, and just put that, sprinkle that on top for an extra hit.
Jordan Cieciwa:Let's talk right now about the protein source that most blew my mind. Wild rice.
Getty Stewart:Wild rice and your whole grains. Yeah. So wild rice, of course, technically being a seed, but we call it a whole grain and we treat it as such. So for sure, your whole grains and whole grains have the bran, the germ and the endosperm all still intact. So you're getting the complete, the whole grain. And so when you turn to those, you do get some protein. Now all of these protein sources aren't necessarily all the same density that you might get in an equivalent amount of meat protein, but the idea is over the course of the day, over the course of several days, if you continue to add protein, these plant proteins at breakfast, lunch, dinner, throughout snacks, sort of throughout your day, you're going to get all the protein that you need. And you don't have to worry about it, so do eat your whole grains, eat your brown rice, your wild rice, your buckwheat, your whole wheat couscous, sweet corn, popcorn. Those all count as a whole grains as well.
Jordan Cieciwa:And this is the exciting part, and this is kind of how this whole podcast came together is this is the kind of research that's being done at the University of Manitoba. The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, they've got a lot of amazing research on plant-based proteins and how to utilize these products and the amino acid content. And that's something that you're going to see coming to the forefront as this goes, because like I say, as somebody that thought I've got a degree in how the human body works, I know a little bit of nutrition. I was stunned by how easy it would be to get protein in plant sources and how easy it is to cook and prepare this stuff. Again, I don't know why I thought barley, whole barley was going to be the hardest thing in the world to cook with, but it's just put it in a pot, boil the water, put it in, bring the water back to a boil, put the lid on just like it's rice.
Getty Stewart:It's easy. If you can cook rice, you can cook any of the whole grains. Absolutely. And this is again, we're here in Manitoba. Guess what we grow? We grow wheat, we grow barley, we grow oats, we grow buckwheat. So these are right in our backyard. So we just need to pay attention and figure out how do I cook wheat kernels? They're sold in the store as wheat berries. How can I cook those and use those instead of white rice? Not only are we supporting our local agriculture, instead of buying rice from overseas, but we are benefiting from having those whole grains now when we combine the whole grains with the pulses. So think of some of your classic Mexican dishes. So you mix rice and beans and corn. You've got yourself a complete protein. So now we're mixing whole wheat and some beans and some veggies or some corn, we've got ourselves a complete protein that that could, and it's a powerhouse it'll be filling and satisfying, and this is what our ancestors would have eaten as well. And we learned that from cultures like Mexico, where they're still combining these different sources of plant protein.
Jordan Cieciwa:And you can keep it local, you can keep it fresh and exciting. Getty, thank you so much for all of these tips and so much more. I, we didn't even start picking your brain on this stuff. This is just the start. And I'm looking forward to, I know we're going to have you back on to talk more about just how whole foods affect the body and the easy ways that there are to get more quality food as the Canadian Food Guide describes, into your diet. So thank you so much for all the knowledge.
Getty Stewart:It's been a pleasure. Thank you.