Lentil Chicken Salad

Many of the meat eaters I know are not really interested in replacing their animal proteins with plant proteins. If I told my dad and brothers that I was making them a nice stew and then surprised them by replacing beef with beans they would be packing up and heading to a restaurant. Yet this doesn’t mean that omnivores can’t still benefit from widening their horizons. A good gateway plant protein source is lentils, they come in lots of different colors and they are usually easier to digest than larger beans for people  are not really used to digesting legumes. For those of you hardcore meat eaters that scoff at beans and lentils, keep in mind that peanuts are in fact also members of the legume family, and we all know how delicious and complimentary to a wide range of dishes they can be. So, be willing to give plant proteins a try, even if they are just added into a meat dish like a soup or salad like this. Different legumes range in nutrients but in general they are good sources of complex carbohydrates, fiber, B vitamins, calcium, iron and zinc. Plus they are all virtually free of saturated fat and cholesterol, therefore replacing some meat with them can go a long way in keeping the body heathy and robust.