The plant protein power of soybeans

Protein is the current buzzword on every healthy eating blogger's lips: Are you getting enough? How can you add more to your diet? What are the best sources? Trending health topics come and go like an influencer's brand deals, but many actual experts do agree ample amounts of protein are necessary for healthy living. Like many, I struggle to meet the recommended protein intake, or so I thought. According to Harvard Health, the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight, or 36 grams for every 100 pounds. That seems pretty attainable when stretched over a day of meals. Although I'm not a vegetarian, I often take breaks from eating meat and add plant protein to my weekly meal plans. Quinoa is one of my favorite plant protein sources, as are beans. So, when I saw stalks of soybeans in my CSA farm share last week, it was a welcome surprise. Maybe you've eaten soybeans served as a popular East Asian dish called edamame. Edamame are young green soybeans that are boiled or steamed in their pods and seasoned. The soybean pods are inedible, but the beans have multiple health benefits. While limited research done years ago warned against consuming too much soy in one's diet, current studies have shown moderate amounts of soy intake do not pose health risk to most of the general population. Every 3.5 ounces of boiled soybean contains 172 calories, 18.2 grams of protein, six grams of fiber and nine grams of fat. They are also a good source of vitamin K1, folate, manganese, thiamine and phosphorus. To prepare my farm-fresh soybeans, I first picked them from the stalk and washed them. I brought a heavily salted pot of water to a rolling boil and added the bean pods, allowing them to cook for four or five minutes. After straining from the pot, I immediately dropped them into an ice bath. From there, you can shell the beans from the pods and add them to your favorite dish or freeze flat on a baking sheet before adding them to a freezer bag. Shelling the beans is the most time-consuming step of the process. For my meal of choice, I tossed the soybeans in a chipotle-infused olive oil with sesame seeds. I served them over a ginger-coconut jasmine rice atop a bed of Swiss chard, adding drizzles of soy sauce and Japanese barbecue sauce. While it is probably more difficult to find fresh here in the northeast, soybeans can usually be found year-round in the frozen vegetable section of your local supermarket. They cook quickly and make a simple protein source for busy weeknights. While the numbers of processed products boasting high protein have skyrocketed seemingly overnight, the go-to sources will remain reliable and on the top of every weekly shopping list, and some of the most delicious ones just happen to be plants.