High-Protein Food Workshops and a Cold Pasta Salad

This week, I started hosting food workshops at my home.

It was one of the best decisions I've made in the past year.

In addition to being a digital specialist providing services to commercial companies and developing content strategies, I also have an education in sports nutrition (from Wingate College).

Don't get me wrong, it's very nice to work with major food companies and even earn a decent living from it, but (it might sound a bit cliché) I missed the ability to directly impact people on a daily level. Talking to people who struggle to lose weight or build muscle mass and are a bit confused by the whole topic of vegan nutrition and sports.

That's why I started hosting cooking workshops.

My cooking workshops are truly the place where I teach how to cook delicious, nutritious, and rich vegan food while explaining in the simplest way what you need to eat to reach your goals (toning, abs, muscle mass, etc.).

So, you should stay tuned to my workshops page here on the blog because they fill up quickly.

One of the things I explain in the workshop is the benefit of combining legumes with whole grains, which helps us increase the amount of protein consumed in a single meal.

For example, a cold pasta salad with plenty of green beans, roasted peppers, and lentils in a tahini sauce. Simple yet delicious.

A post shared by Haggai Leffler - The Vegan Athlete (@haggai_leffler) on Jul 31, 2018 at 4:09am PDT

A satisfying and complete dish that is easy to prepare in large quantities in advance to take in a lunchbox to the office or university.

It's important to note that this recipe uses whole wheat pasta which, like whole grains, contains a higher amount of protein, making this innocent-looking salad high in protein.

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How to eat this?

One portion of pasta is perfect for lunch and provides a high amount of quality carbohydrates with a low glycemic index, contributing to a feeling of fullness and energy throughout the day and an effective evening workout.

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Nutritional values by clinical dietitian and fitness coach Noam Bachar:

One serving of pasta (out of 3) contains:

470 kcal

60g carbohydrates

22g protein

11g fat (of which 2g is saturated fat)

16g dietary fiber

I wouldn't mind eating this for lunch every day

Print

Cold Pasta Salad

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 3 servings

Ingredients

• 200 g whole wheat pasta
• 2 cups cooked green lentils - 300g see cooking instructions below
• 1 cup frozen green beans, thawed 100g
• 3 large red bell peppers or 9 small peppers

For the Dressing

• juice from half a lemon
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• handful chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp raw whole tahini
• 2 tbsp water

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta according to the manufacturer's instructions. Drain and set aside.
2. Roast the peppers:
3. Preheat the oven to a very high heat (200-250 degrees). Place the peppers on a baking tray and roast for about 5-10 minutes until slightly browned. Set aside to cool.
   
4. Prepare the dressing:
5. In a small bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients until you get a relatively thin and uniform sauce.
6. In a large bowl, mix all the salad ingredients together and serve.

Notes

How to cook lentils?

Place the lentils in a deep pot and fill with water until covered.

Bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat and continue to cook until the lentils soften, about 10-15 minutes.

There's no need to add salt to the cooking water.