Hemp hemp hemp… I love it. I’m not vegan, I eat animal proteins but I do consider myself plant-based, and I believe one of the keys to a healthy plate is a variety of plant foods. While I love animal proteins and find them very nourishing, I do find that too much in the form of muscle meats like fish, chicken, beef or lamb is too heavy on my digestion – so I like to keep these foods to no more than once a day, maybe twice if it’s a small serve.

But I know what you’re thinking, since I don’t eat legumes and I certainly see it as important to have protein at every meal for satiety and nourishment, what do I eat when I’m not having animal muscle based protein?

Eggs are a daily, I like to have them at my “breakfast” meal which is generally later in the day than a typical breakfast, and other times I like to have bone broth (there is a surprising amount of protein in here and it has a varying amino acid composition to muscle meats), and other times I have hemp and sometimes tempeh.

Did anyone else just have a brainwave… Hempeh?! Someone needs to invent that!

I digress… Hemp is by far my favourite plant based protein. Most pea and rice protein powders I find to be too processed and sweet (I also don’t like sweet things in the morning, it just makes me want more and more sweet throughout the day). And legumes for the most part I find are too high in carbohydrates to get a good amount of protein from them, although I do eat these on the odd occasion. The last one is tempeh, I actually really like this and I think it’s a great plant protein option, it’s a fermented soy product that has the whole beans in tact, unlike tofu which is made from soy milk and is not fermented. Also now you can get soy free tempeh made out of other legumes! I don’t mind the soy one occasionally but I do like the other varieties too. I have no idea if this is true or not but many report tempeh being better for you due to the fermentation, and I enjoy it!

And now we’re back to hemp… It’s really more of a whole food than a protein supplement and I don’t think it should be placed in the same category as all those other vegan proteins. Hemp protein is made from the milling and sifting of whole hemp seeds, and it has a lot to offer over just protein, it’s packed with plant fibre and nutrients like magnesium, omega fats, zinc, vitamin E and more. Not that this is surprising because food in it’s whole natural form always has so much more goodness than just a number of macronutrients! Food first, supplements second always.

Any way that’s why I like hemp protein! It can also be used in sweet and savoury dishes which is great. In a smoothie I have it with avocado, blueberries, coconut milk and a little stevia, although I have to warn you it does have a grassy flavour and can take some getting used to. You can also add is to birchers, chia and flax puddings. I also sprinkle hemp protein on top of my meals if I’m not having animal protein, this takes some getting used to and you need a lot of moisture in your meal in the form of oil and lemon juice to soak it all up but I love it, although again, it’s an acquired taste and probably not boyfriend-approved haha. And my third fave way to have it is in pancakes like this! It’s a super simple recipe but it’s a nice change up from the typical egg breakfasts, and great if you’re craving avo on toast.

I also called them triple hemp pancakes because in this recipe I use the protein, the seeds and the oil!