Although I am a vegan for ethical reasons, the health factors of my daily intake is so important to me and had been long before I became a vegan. For me, knowing a recipe, or even a person is vegan forces me to automatically assume it’s/their on the positive side of being healthy.. However not unlike every other vegan (you guys feel me), people often immediately assume I am malnourished, am not fulfilling my bodies nutritional needs, and ultimately eat raw carrots for every meal.. which although I am usually not bothered getting into a whole discussion about it, can be quite frustrating as I take take pride in how I treat my body, the superfood obsession, constantly trying new foods, new methods of cooking and more than anything keeping it balanced and able to complement a relatively active lifestyle.

I am so grateful that for me a lot of the time this doubt comes from a genuine place of concern by people who are open to learning more about a vegan lifestyle or at least are respectful enough to pretend, but it’s not uncommon that you get the guy who’s never looked into any facts but of course knows wholly and scientifically that “Nah mate, you need meat!” (I’m surprised I didn’t throw away all I thought I knew about nutrition with that powerfully persuasive point)

I can go on and on about veggies, grains, legumes and fruit.. The amazing ways they can be prepared, the flavours created, the health benefits and insane nutritional value of these simple foods that allow you to feel strong, satisfied, as well as of course able to live off the earth and not secondhand off of the lives of our 4 legged friends and all in all the powerful contribution it’s made to transforming my life into a much more fulfilling one.

My dinner tonight is a perfect example of how I, as a vegan am in fact NOT depriving my body of essential vitamins, and invite you to open yourself to the benefits of a vegan diet compared to maybe the sausages and mash typical dinner you’ve grown up with (using myself as an example)

so I’m spreading my wings of nutrition with this loaded with greatness recipe to show you in a relatable way the amazing foods available to us provided by non other than .. earth… it comes from the earth you guys!

Kale has more vitamin C than an orange and more Calcium than a container of milk (not to mention it’s protein content) and per calorie, contains more iron than beef

1/2 a cup of Cannellini beans provide you with 28% of your daily fibre needs (and are both packed with antioxidants and free from fat)

Quinoa is the only grain that’s a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids, also containing 8g of protein and 6g of fibre per cup AS WELL as taking care of 15% of your daily iron needs

three quarters of a cup of Peas contains more protein than a whole egg or tablespoon of peanut butter

You need between 75 and 90 milligrams of vitamin C per day, and one cup of chopped Green Capsicum provides 119.8 milligrams.

Red cabbage is full of vitamin K and anthocyanins that help with mental function and concentration, loaded with vitamin C which makes it so detoxifying, as well as Vitamin B6 therefore assisting in red blood development, processing carbs and support your brain and nervous system

Ginger contains chromium, magnesium and zinc which can help to improve blood flow,  improves the absorption and stimulation of essential nutrients in the body by stimulating gastric and pancreatic enzyme secretion, contains some of the most potent anti-inflammatory fighting substances known and is a natural powerful painkiller

So these 7 ingredients, sneakily prepared in the most easiest of ways for my household dinner might actually, believe it or not, fuel me better than the 2 slices of gherkin in your big mac..

Here’s the link for the recipe..  http://chewzwisely.org/2014/10/15/kale-and-cannellini-bean-quinoa-pilaf/