Protein packed plates: pack more protein into your diet and build more quality muscle by pairing your daily chicken or steak with any of these powerhouse food finds

Muscle & Fitness, July, 2006 by Jordana Brown

We're always trying to figure out new and exciting ways to add more protein to our diets, because, let's face it: Even steak gets old sometimes. But try as we might, we haven't yet found a tasty recipe for steak in chicken sauce. And that's just the point. There are times when we don't want to waste precious calories on pure carbohydrates, times when we wish we could eat our protein with, well, more protein. So we dug through our files and found six foods that are suitable side dishes to a slab of steak or a juicy chicken breast but boast enough protein to give you an extra serving.

Yet just because these sides have comparatively high levels of protein doesn't mean they're completely lacking in carbs. In fact, most of them are fairly high in carbohydrate. (Hey, if you want a high-protein, low-carb meal, go develop a recipe for steak in chicken sauce.) That doesn't make them bad; in fact, most are pretty high in fiber, which means they're slow-digesting carbs and won't cause insulin levels to spike as precipitously as, say, a baked potato. Still, put some consideration into when you eat them. Most of these sides are perfect at dinnertime for anyone who works out in the late afternoon or early evening. The one with the lowest carbs, edamame, is a better choice if you train in the morning.

LEAN STEAK AND SWEET POTATO

STANDARD

Steak (8 oz.) and medium sweet potato:

48 g protein

559 calories, 24 g carbohydrate, 29 g fat, 4 g fiber

Swap out your sweet potato ...

AMARANTH

There's a lot of talk lately among health-food nuts about "ancient grains," but the big secret is that, for the most part, they're not true grains. Amaranth, for example, is the tiny seeds of a weedlike plant that's distant cousin of both spinach and beets. Grown throughout Asia and the Americas, amaranth was a staple of both the Aztec and Incan empires, and it's still eaten in the Andes and Mexico, where it's popped like popcorn and mixed with a sugar syrup. While most grains lack one or more of the nine essential amino acids required to make a complete protein, amaranth (because it's not a grain) has an ample supply of all nine. It's also a good source of iron, copper and magnesium.

Amaranth can be extremely gummy when cooked by itself. To remedy that, combine a half-cup amaranth with a half-cup of a whole grain like brown rice or even quinoa. Add 2 1/2 cups of water to that combo, then cook it like you would rice. You can find amaranth at specialty stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

ALTERNATIVE

Steak (8 oz.) and 1 cup amaranth:

57 g protein

748 calories, 52 g carbohydrate, 34 g fat, 7 g fiber

LEAN STEAK AND RICE

STANDARD

Steak (8 oz.) and 1 cup white rice:

50 g protein

698 calories, 53 g carbohydrate, 29 g fat, 0 g fiber

Replace your rice with one of these ...

SOBA NOODLES

We say noodles and you probably think pasta, but unlike spaghetti (which is made from semolina, a wheat flour), soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour. Despite its name, buckwheat has no relation to wheat and isn't even a grain. Like amaranth and quinoa, it's a seed, but buckwheat is related to rhubarb. Because buckwheat and its flour contain no gluten (the sticky starch in wheat), it has to be combined with wheat flour to be leavened and made into noodles or pancakes.

Buckwheat contains rutin, a flavonoid that has been shown to lower the risk of developing high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and an ingredient called chiro inositol that acts like insulin in the body and drives carbs into your muscles without raising insulin levels.

Soba is a Japanese food, and in Japan it's served either hot, mainly in broth, or cold, as a salad. The noodles are readily available in bigger U.S. grocery stores and should be cooked like spaghetti.

ALTERNATIVE

Steak (8 oz.) and 2 cups soba:

58 g protein

682 calories, 49 g carbohydrate, 29 g fat, 0 g fiber

QUINOA

Say it together: keen-wah. If the pronunciation weren't confusing enough, quinoa, like amaranth, isn't actually a grain, it's the seed of a plant that's related to amaranth. Its stunning amino acid profile is so balanced that the World Health Organization compared the quality of quinoa's protein to that of milk. In addition to being an excellent vegetarian source of protein, it boasts significant levels of iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium and various B vitamins.

Cook quinoa like rice, with two parts liquid to one part quinoa, and use it in dishes in place of rice or couscous. Or substitute it for your oatmeal: A company called Altiplano Gold (altiplanogold.com) offers a hot cereal made with quinoa. Some grocery stores carry it where you'd find rice, but you may have to hit a specialty store like Whole Foods.

ALTERNATIVE

Steak (8 oz.) and 1 cup quinoa:

53 g protein

666 calories, 59 g carbohydrate, 34 g fat, 5 g fiber

HUMMUS

There's probably nothing new we can tell you about hummus. You may know that it's a puree of garbanzo beans, olive oil, garlic and other flavor-boosting ingredients. Maybe you didn't know garbanzo beans contain high amounts of protein, fiber, iron, folate and manganese. But we're positive you didn't know that there's some evidence that garbanzo beans contain protease inhibitors, which can limit muscle damage.