What I eat in a Single Day on a Plant-Based Diet

It feels satisfying that I’m giving my body all it requires, while maintaining a plant-based diet. I don’t compromise on flavour just because I’m on a plant-based diet, actually I enjoy a lot of the normal foods that everyone else does. My favourite food that I try and incorporate into my daily food regimen are beans. 

Beans are an important part of a plant-based, whole-food diet. These legumes are mentioned in several nutritionists’ books. Nutritionists suggest eating ½ cup of beans every day, because they’re high in plant protein, fibre, vitamin B, and minerals. They help lower cholesterol and blood pressure while also keeping our gut bacteria happy. I enjoy preparing an enormous pot of beans once a week so I can better plan my meals. I try to maintain the recommended ½ cup of beans everyday. 

I love to cook beans in my Instant Pot since they cook so fast, but you can also cook beans on the stovetop, or just buy canned beans. Other varieties of beans work with a good Instant Pot Pinto Beans recipe. Over the years, it has gotten easier to cook and I have tried a variety of recipes and have perfected my Pinto Bean recipe. 

I used two teaspoons of “Better than Bouillon Vegetable Broth”, two garlic cloves, a bay leaf, and roughly 6 cups of water. I put all of that plus my pinto beans into the InstaPot and let it cook for 30 minutes, or until softened. 

I know the Better than Bouillon brand has a lot of salt, but it’s spread out across a pound of beans and a lot of water, so it’s less salt than you’d expect once they’re cooked. It has 126 calories and 130.7 mg of salt per 1/2 cup. They also have a reduced sodium option if the original is too salty for your taste. 

I got side-tracked on those incredible beans, but trust me when I say that this day of plant-based eating was so wonderful and full of goodness that you should try it. Every meal includes delicious veggies that are ready to keep you healthy and your body functioning at its best. 

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WHAT I ATE

I had:

• A Smoothie for breakfast,

• A Potato-Kale Soup with Tempeh BLT for lunch,

• Mushroom Tacos with Pinto Beans for Dinner,

• And a date and nut bar for dessert.

Breakfast Smoothie

I prepared mine with the ingredients listed below:

Ingredients

• 1 small Mandarin orange,

• banana,

• 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes,

• 3 big leaves romaine lettuce,

• 1 cup spinach,

• 1 medium carrot (cut into pieces),

• 1/3 cup sprouts,

• 1/4 cup tart cherry juice + enough water to thin.

Instructions

In a blender, combine all the ingredients and mix until smooth. Add a little date syrup, maple syrup, or a few drops of Stevia if you like them sweeter. Enjoy!

Snacks

Get the freshest nuts possible. Ensure you double-check your suppliers. If nuts are old, they will smell rotten. Nuts have long been a contentious topic among advocates of a whole-food, plant-based diet. You just need to find what works for you.

I keep a container of mixed nuts on my desk so that when I’m working and need a little pick me up, they’re right there!

Lunch

Creamy Potato-Kale Soup 

One of my favourite soups is this one. Nutritional yeast provides taste and vitamin B to the dish. I also added approximately 3/4 cup Soy Curls and a little additional water while the soup was simmering. Soy Curls are dry and require rehydration; a few minutes in the broth should be enough. Soy curls are produced from non-GMO tofu and may be used in place of chicken in a variety of dishes.

Tempeh BLT and vegan mayonnaise on gluten-free bread.

Of course, you may use any bread you like, as long as it’s high in fibre and doesn’t include any extra oil.

I take tempeh and cut it up super thin, this way when they bake they get crispy. I marinade them in soy sauce, paprika, garlic powder, apple cider vinegar, and a little maple syrup. At this point, I just eyeball the measurements so it’s up to you with how you marinade the tempeh. 

I then bake the tempeh until it gets nice and crispy, so that it resembles bacon.

I then take my high fibre bread, slather vegan mayonnaise, cut up some tomatoes, and lettuce, and put the fresh tempeh on top. 

It goes perfectly with my soup and fills me up for the day until dinner. 

Dinner

2 Mushroom Tacos with Homemade Pinto Beans on the Side.

I take the pinto beans from earlier, and reheat them. I get onto making my mushroom filling. I take some mushrooms and onions and slice them up. Then on a frying pan, I saute the onions and mushrooms with avocado oil and add in salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder (again, this is all towards my liking, you are free to add what spices you like). 

While the mushrooms and onions are sauteing, I dice up some tomatoes, lettuce and onion and set that aside. Once the mushroom, onion mix is ready, (the mushrooms will be darker in colour, and the onions will be nice and golden), I then take corn tortillas (which are plant-based because they are just ground up corn), put the mix, and then top with veggies. 

You can’t forget a squirt of lime on top to bring all the flavours together. 

Dessert

This is a simple dish that is one of my favourites. A combination of Medjool dates, mixed nuts, and dark chocolate.

I take fresh dates and a blend of walnuts, cashews and pecans and blend them in a food processor. If you’re working with dried dates, I suggest soaking them in warm water for about 5 minutes. The ratio for nuts to dates is 1 ½ cup of nuts, 10-12 dates. Once the mixture is blended, press onto a parchment lined pan. Make sure to press it nice and flat and get into all of the corners. 

Then melt some dark chocolate and pour the melted chocolate on top of the date/nut mixture. Allow for the chocolate to harden and you have some delicious nut bars.

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