Protein is a food group that I make sure is in every meal in my day. And I eat five meals a day. That sounds like a lot of food and sometimes it is but rest assured this is what our body needs.

Since I’m steering away from meat these days, cottage cheese has become one my easiest no-fuss protein choices to date.

I buy the fat free cottage cheese from Pick n Pay’s Livewell range. I usually get the plain, chunky version but this week decided to bulk my salads up by adding fresh herbs to my smooth cheese.

If I eat fat free cottage cheese I use 1/2 cup, and if it’s low fat that reduces to 1/3 of a cup at each meal. That’s equivalent to 2 portions of protein according to my weight.

Did you know: Cottage cheese is curd. Curd is a dairy product and is formed by the proteins in milk coming together in solid masses. Cottage cheese is very low in calories compared to other cheeses. Cheese itself is believed to have originated in the Middle East as far back at 5000 BC. Cottage cheese is also naturally yellow in colour. Titanium dioxide is usually added to the cottage cheese to produce its brilliant white colour.

Ingredients

1 tbsp hemp seeds

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup kimchi

fresh spring onions

lettuce

baby spinach/kale

poppy seeds/chia seeds

cherry tomatoes

sliced radish

sprouts of your choice

dressing of your choice (I use a chili Balsamic reduction from Woolies)

burger gherkins, about 5 of them

1/2 cup steamed corn (I omitted this carb because I was having my supper a bit early. If you’re eating this for lunch, do add a carb otherwise your sugar will dip around tea time and you’ll start craving sweets.)

Method

1. Mix your cottage cheese with chopped up spring onion and set aside.

2. I usually layer my salads with the leaves at the bottom, the heavy vegetables next, then sprouts.

3. Add kimchi in the middle, protein on top of the kimchi, gherkins and lastly seeds and sprinklings of dressing.

   There’s no real method actually as long as everything is in the bowl and it gets into your tummy. Feel free to chop and change the veggies and the ingredients.