# Perfect protein Broccoli stew



## grndzro (Dec 17, 2012)

Wasup peeps. New here and I'd like to share one of my favorite recipes.

I'm pretty good with nutrition and cobbled together this a few years ago when I was researching the ultimate vegetarian muscle gaining dish.

14 oz broccoli tops (only use tops not stems)
1 cup mashed Garbonzos
1 cup red/pink lentils
1 can cream of whatever Mushroom/Celery/Asparagus 
1 can of potato chowder or Split pea (I use both)
1 tbsp butter or bacon grease (I use both)
Season to taste

Brocolli is just about the only vegetable with a high amount of Methionine.
Garbonzo's are very high in Arginine.
Thoes 2 with the Lentils make a very very good protein quality.

Be sure to properly rinse the beans/lentils and cook the garbonzo's to oblivion.


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## chopper (Dec 17, 2012)

Welcome  This sounds really good. I would probably add bacon to mine, but that's just me. Thanks.


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## PhilinYuma (Dec 17, 2012)

Is bacon grease allowed in a vegetarian meal? 
But you're right of course about broccoli which is also a good source of cysteine. Your other ingredients, like potatoes and mushrooms are good, too. Have you checked to see how well they provide the other essential amino acids, or do you have another meal to take care of that?
A meal that is an excellent source of both of these amino acids is beans and rice that my Mexican neighbors eat in a diet driven by poverty rather than dietary considerations.
Cheers


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 17, 2012)

I'm a bit concerned about the sodium content of this meal.


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## chopper (Dec 17, 2012)

Perhaps if you used low sodium soups?


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## pacanis (Dec 17, 2012)

I'm a bit concerned about the method.
What do you do, mix everything together and cook until heated through?
It's certainly interesting sounding. I wouldn't rule it out, since I don't have to watch my salt intake.


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## jennyema (Dec 17, 2012)

The whole thing seems a mess


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## Steve Kroll (Dec 17, 2012)

PhilinYuma said:


> Is bacon grease allowed in a vegetarian meal?


Nope! Nothing vegetarian whatsoever about that, unless it's "fakon" grease.


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## grndzro (Dec 17, 2012)

You cook the beans separately, otherwise it's problematic due to the lengthy cook time of garbonzos.

Combine cooked beans with all other ingredients in a pot. I prefer soft broccoli.

It is a complete protein meal, balanced amino acid profile. Vegetarians still need cholesterol. otherwise you'll die of a stroke. A bit of bacon grease is not harmfull.

I am not a vegetarian. I made this because the protein is actually better than beef. 

Sodium does not stay in the body for extended periods. The concern about sodium and blood pressure applies only to people who have high blood pressure already due to bad living. Sodium only raises blood pressure temporarily, it has no effect on your normal BP. 

I eat salt aplenty and have 120/70 normal BP.

PST be sure to cook the garbonzo's nearly to mush otherwise it interferes with the wonderful texture of the broccoli.

Ima try this with garbonzo flour this week. I'll post if it works out.

The idea behind this meal is to create a creamy sauce/soup to eat the broccoli in that has all the right amino acids to make a good protein.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 17, 2012)

grndzro said:


> You cook the beans separately, otherwise it's problematic due to the lengthy cook time of garbonzos.
> 
> Combine cooked beans with all other ingredients in a pot. I prefer soft broccoli.
> 
> ...



That is not a true statement, bad living has absolutely NOTHING to do with high blood pressure.


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## grndzro (Dec 17, 2012)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> That is not a true statement, bad living has absolutely NOTHING to do with high blood pressure.



Nitpick much? 

No high BP isn't always caused by bad living. but it is almost always associated with it. 

Smoking = bad living
Alcoholism = bad living
Overweight = Bad living unless you have a medical condition.
Stress = If it's causing you high BP take Prozac, or smoke weed.

So unless it's genetic or a medical condition it's due to bad living. so it would be a vast minority that has high BP by default.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 17, 2012)

grndzro said:


> Nitpick much?
> 
> No high BP isn't always caused by bad living. but it is almost always associated with it.
> 
> ...



And your medical degree comes from?

Your information on cholesterol is also incorrect.  I'm not nitpicking, but when you make health claims you should be made aware that what you are saying is not correct.


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## grndzro (Dec 17, 2012)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> And your medical degree comes from?
> 
> Your information on cholesterol is also incorrect.  I'm not nitpicking, but when you make health claims you should be made aware that what you are saying is not correct.



Your brain needs cholesterol to coat the blood vessels. a common cause of stroke in vegans is cause they eliminate all cholesterol in their diet.

I apologize for sounding defensive but I have been studying nutrition for a very long time.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 17, 2012)

Lowering your cholesterol too far is a danger, but it is also not necessary to use animal fat to get your cholesterol.  This could be a true vegetarian dish simply by exchanging the animal fats for canola, olive or grapeseed oils.  

It's the immoderate use of ingredients that cause problems in the future.  Ignoring salt content while you are young is still a major risk factor.


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## grndzro (Dec 17, 2012)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Lowering your cholesterol too far is a danger, but it is also not necessary to use animal fat to get your cholesterol.  This could be a true vegetarian dish simply by exchanging the animal fats for canola, olive or grapeseed oils.
> 
> It's the immoderate use of ingredients that cause problems in the future.  Ignoring salt content while you are young is still a major risk factor.



Yea it could easily be a true Vegetarian recipe. But I am not a vegetarian.

I guess the use of Bacon grease is a bad idea. almost all saturated fat.


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## PhilinYuma (Dec 18, 2012)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> That is not a true statement, bad living has absolutely NOTHING to do with high blood pressure.



Yeah, but like many seriously misleading statements, there is a grain of truth in what GroundZero says. The current recommendation for daily sodium intake for disease free Caucasian adults 50yo or younger, is 2,300 mgms a day. The average actual consumption in the U.S. is about 3,400 mgms (for a recent article, try Sodium: How to tame your salt habit now - MayoClinic.com ). And it is true that excess sodium intake is unlikely to hurt anyone in that age, ethnic and health group, anymore than smoking is likely to cause cancer in anyone under thirty. The problem arises when an individual develops diabetes or any form of cardiac, renal or hepatic (liver) disease (and if that is a sign of "bad living", most Americans over sixty five are more or less "bad!) and of course, when he passes fifty. Believe me, it is much easier to gently lower yr sodium intake by a few hundred milligrams to 1500 than to have to start using less than half of what you are used to.
Also, GZ, I hd thought that you were a vegetarian trying to maximize your methionine and cysteine levels which can be notoriously low in vegetarian diets. If you believe that plants are a superior source of protein to flesh, then I suggest that you review the medical (not body building!) literature again.
Cheers


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 18, 2012)

My objection is saying that people with illness are "living badly" it's is not a fair assumption.  "Bad" people are those that rob, kill and thieve...

Some of us were brought up eating poorly, because that is what our parents could afford, does this make them "Bad" people? We are here to discuss cooking, it is possible for us to point out concerns and not point fingers at those who have different dietary choices than those we have made for ourselves...


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## jennyema (Dec 18, 2012)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Lowering your cholesterol too far is a danger, but it is also not necessary to use animal fat to get your cholesterol.  This could be a true vegetarian dish simply by exchanging the animal fats for canola, olive or grapeseed oils.



Cholesterol is an animal product, though.  Plants contain little or no cholesterol.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 18, 2012)

grndzro said:


> I'm pretty good with nutrition and cobbled together this a few years ago when I was researching the ultimate vegetarian muscle gaining dish.



The OP mentions vegetarian.  Simply pointing out how it can be vegetarian.  Many vegetarians are lacto-ovo because they are aware they need cholesterol, so they get their animal fat without adding in bacon fat.


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## grndzro (Dec 18, 2012)

PhilinYuma said:


> Yeah, but like many seriously misleading statements, there is a grain of truth in what GroundZero says. The current recommendation for daily sodium intake for disease free Caucasian adults 50yo or younger, is 2,300 mgms a day. The average actual consumption in the U.S. is about 3,400 mgms (for a recent article, try Sodium: How to tame your salt habit now - MayoClinic.com ). And it is true that excess sodium intake is unlikely to hurt anyone in that age, ethnic and health group, anymore than smoking is likely to cause cancer in anyone under thirty. The problem arises when an individual develops diabetes or any form of cardiac, renal or hepatic (liver) disease (and if that is a sign of "bad living", most Americans over sixty five are more or less "bad!) and of course, when he passes fifty. Believe me, it is much easier to gently lower yr sodium intake by a few hundred milligrams to 1500 than to have to start using less than half of what you are used to.
> Also, GZ, I hd thought that you were a vegetarian trying to maximize your methionine and cysteine levels which can be notoriously low in vegetarian diets. If you believe that plants are a superior source of protein to flesh, then I suggest that you review the medical (not body building!) literature again.
> Cheers



No not plants in general, but Broccoli/Garbanzo/Pink Lentils combine to make a really good amino acid profile. I spent weeks looking up the amino acid breakdown of vegetarian protein sources and those 3 combine nearly to perfection. 

For some reason google's ability to find the same websites I used in 2006ish is nonexistent no mater what search terms I use. Pink lentils cover a better spectrum of deficient amino's than green ones although it is pretty close between the 2 it can be left up to personal preference.

All I can say is try it for a week or 2 ^^

PS I used "Bad living" in a loose sense. That has nothing to do with the fault of the individual. It was not meant to presume that all people with conditions are to blame for them. I cant go around trying not to step on eggshells. People are responsible for their own health. That is not saying that they are always responsible or to blame for their problems. I do however assign blame when someone has a problem and does nothing to try and fix it.


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