Oftentimes, vegetables tend to assume the role of a side dish rather than the main course.
For whatever reason you decided to cut back on meat (i.e.
Luckily, a lot of these meat substitutes have a great amount of plant-based protein.
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Here are some of the best veggie meat alternatives to start adding to your weekly meal plan.
Buying canned or dried beans instead of meat can also save you money.
In addition to protein, beans, and legumes are packed withhealth-beneficialfiber, vitamins, and minerals.
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Skip the beef and put ablack bean burgeron your bun.
Or enjoy beef-free vegetarian chili orlentil-stuffed peppersfor dinner.
Bonus: cauliflower even makes the list oftop anti-inflammatory foods.
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Eggplant
This purple-hued vegetable is a low-carb, low-calorie meat substitute that packs in some serioushealth benefits.
It also contains a healthy amount of vitamins A, C, and a few B vitamins.
The produce sections of many grocery stores also offer ready-to-cook packages of jackfruit that are already marinated.
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They also make a great beef-like substitute to use in pasta like ingoulash.
Seitan
One of the lesser-known plant-based meat alternatives for non-vegetarians is seitan (pronounced like say-tahn).
Derived from theprotein portion of wheat, seitan is also known as wheat gluten.
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Tofu tastes great when given the right seasonings.
Credit: Adam Albright
Credit: Blaine Moats
Credit: Adam Albright
Credit: Blaine Moats
