Getting enough protein as a vegetarian or vegan
I am not a vegetarian or a vegan. I normally try to eat as much meat as I can but the other day I met a guy who wants to bulk up with a bit of muscle and for a vegetarian, this can be a lot more difficult because generally speaking, protein exists in high quantities in meat, but not so much in vegetables. Since protein is absolutely essential to muscle growth, vegetarians and vegans have a more difficult time achieving gains in the gym. In many ways they have to work harder than their meat-eating counterparts.
It's gonna take a bit of effort to pull this off but there are some high(er) protein veggies out there!
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Chickpeas
Also called Garbanzo beans, these little guys are one of my favorite high-protein veggies because they can be turned into falafel and hummus, both of which I absolutely love. You're going to have to eat a lot of them though because they have around 15 grams of protein per cup and as much as I love hummus, I don't know if I could choke down 2 cups of the stuff.
Lentils
A very versatile vegetable. Lentils can be turned into all sorts of flavorful stuff my favorite of which is the red lentil soup that is served at my local Turkish take-away joint. If you really are trying to pack some protein into your diet you will likely have to make something yourself with this easy-to-find and rather inexpensive veggie. It packs in around 18 grams of protein per cup.
The problem that you face with soups containing lentils is that there is no real way to determine how much of the soup is the actual vegetable. I guess if you know the owner you could ask them but then again, they probably make it in vast quantities and don't really know how much lentils per serving is actually in each one.
I am not much of a cook but I tried my hand at making this red lentil soup and it turned out pretty nicely. A lot of the ingredients are optional as well so you can play around with it a bit.
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Pinto Beans
This one is a mixed bag for me because if I am eating JUST pinto beans I find them rather dry and strange tasting. However, if you mix them with some Mexican spices, some other vegetables and then do a wrap using either tortillas (careful with the carbs) or just wrapping them up in iceberg lettuce, I find them very palatable. One cup of pinto beans contains around 15 grams or protein.
The easiest way for a vegan or vegetarian to get their protein needs for the gym would be to simply buy a whey protein supplement. I have never tried these products but the ones that I have seen have the same amount of protein per serving as their milk-based counterparts. I have no idea what it tastes like but it has been my experience that there really isn't such a thing as a truly delicious protein shake mix. It's just an easy way to get 25-30 grams of protein all in one go.
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Many people complain that protein supplements are expensive and this is only true if you look at the cost per bottle / bag. These monstrous containers normally have 25-50 servings in them so when you break it down to a per use cost, it normally will be less than a dollar per serving. So when you look at it like this, the shake mix is almost certainly going to cost less than the all natural alternatives... unless you happen to live next to a pinto bean farm or something. To me, the best and easiest way to boost your protein intake is to get the supplement industry involved!