Protein Punch

Dinner doesn't get on the table (or in my mouth) nearly quick enough these days.  As much I generally enjoy cooking, I am always hungry, (sweaty and tired) after exercising with my housemates, and I can't recall the last evening I didn't have school work that needed attention.  Plus, cooking usually requires cleaning up afterwards, and my dishwasher is back in Japan.

So, I've been eating lots of leftovers and quick meals of late, most of which taste fine and fit the bill.  But when I made this quick-n-easy salad a few weeks ago, it was one of the best things I had eaten for a while.

With this recipe as a starting point, I added some chickpeas and raisins and adjusted the spices to taste.

Served over a bed of spinach & carrots, with fresh bread and olive oil/balsamic vinegar on the side.

The chickpeas helped add volume and protein.  I read recently that I should be getting 46 grams of protein a day, which is way higher than I thought.  I also didn't realize how many things in my regular diet contain protein, (greek yogurt is one of my main sources, as well as the copious amounts of cheese I consume, and recently I've been eating a hard boiled egg at least every other day).  I counted up my protein intake on one random day, and it came out almost exactly to 46 grams!!  My foray into nutrition was kind of fun...maybe over the summer I will try and learn more about what I eat.