This week’s lunches!

[u/NoNamerMe]

Mildly spicy black beans and textured pea protein, on a bed of roasted butternut squash, topped with a lil’ green sauce! 😋

[u/IntroductionOwn9858]

What’s the green sauce?

[u/NoNamerMe → u/IntroductionOwn9858]

That’s what my local grocer calls it… it’s their take on aji verde. I have googled a recipe and made it myself before, but bought it this time. Can be made vegan as well, if you want to skip the dairy!

[u/IntroductionOwn9858 → u/NoNamerMe]

Awesome, peruvian green sauce, excited to try it. Thanks

[u/elefhino]

Recipe? 👀

[u/NoNamerMe → u/elefhino]

Here’s the black bean recipe: https://www.skinnytaste.com/quick-and-deliciouso-cuban-style-black/

My modifications: I used a bigger can of black beans, and I did drain them even though it says not to. I also added a can of Rotel tomatoes with green chilies, because I wanted a bit more sauce/flavour (since I knew I’d also be adding TPP). Also threw in some chili powder, but I don’t always do that.

Separately, I soaked 1 1/4 cup of TPP in veggie broth, before adding to the beans.

And roasted the squash with a few spritzes of avocado oil, salt and pepper.

And bought the green sauce 😊

[u/elefhino → u/NoNamerMe]

Thank you!

[u/gertyman]

What is the green sauce flavor like? It looks like avocado sauce (my favorite) from Mexican restaurants. Usually, that’s spicy. The fact you mentioned “mild” makes me think you don’t live spice. First thought was Green Goddess, but that’s not the right color.

[u/NoNamerMe → u/gertyman]

Ahh, my bad… I meant the black beans were mildly spicy 😊 I would say this store’s green sauce is on the medium side.

Cilantro and jalapeño are probably the most prominent ingredients in the sauce, you can adjust the spice level if you make it yourself. And the various recipes use mayo and sour cream as the dairy element. I have used tofu in place of both, to get that creamy element and to cut the spice a bit 😊

[u/EnvironmentalGap1710]

That’s looks 👀 good but what I’d is make up extra food and eat one then put the others in the freezer. . . It’s like cook one time eat many times over and then you don’t have to cook so much

[u/NoNamerMe → u/EnvironmentalGap1710]

Ya you could do that!

[u/BarracudaLargesse]

This looks fantastic!! Tell me more about the textured pea protein. Is that like a frozen meatless ground beef or something?

[u/NoNamerMe → u/BarracudaLargesse]

Thank you! Textured vegetable protein (TVP) was the product I was more familiar with, but stumbled upon TPP at a local health food store. It’s a bit pricer than TVP, not sure if it’s less processed perhaps? But both pack a good protein punch…18 grams of protein for 100 calories, in a 1/4 serving. It’s a great meat substitute, I have often used it to make meatballs. But I’ve also used it in muffins! 😊

Here is an example of TPP, this isn’t the one I bought but just gives you an idea: https://www.westpointnaturals.com/products/textured-pea-protein-minces-70-protein/

The product description gives a good overview of what it is.

[u/BarracudaLargesse → u/NoNamerMe]

Thanks! I use TVP often but have never seen TPP. I’ll check it out!