As a blossoming gym bro, I’m a little obsessed with eating enough protein.
On strength training days, I chug a gloopy concoction of protein powder, higher-protein Fairlife milk, and coffee that has the consistency of drying cement and tastes like I forgot how to love myself.
I mix cottage cheese in my eggs and top my berry oatmeal with chia seeds and peanut butter, my head buzzing with all the high-protein swaps I need to make to hit my target protein goal — a whopping daily minimum of 53 grams. When I’m not consuming protein, I’m thinking about the next time I’ll consume protein. Protein protein protein.
What makes this lifestyle bearable is the sheet-pan dinner I make once a week. Clocking at about 35 to 40 grams of protein, it also has plenty of fiber — important for gut and heart health. It keeps me full before workouts and fits all the guidelines for the Mediterranean diet, considered the healthiest in the world.
The meal basically breaks down to a few ingredients:
- Salmon, or another lean protein of your choice (chicken, another type of fish, or tofu are all possible swaps, though the protein content will vary)
- A side vegetable (or several)
- Farro
- Extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- Seasonings and toppings
To save money, my husband and I usually buy everything from Trader Joe’s, such as salmon, which can cost double the price at our local grocery store. The chain also has ingredients like fast-cooking farro, frozen ginger cubes, and seasoning mixes that keep the meal from tasting like yet another protein brick to shovel into my gullet.
Here’s how to make it and feel good about your protein and fiber intake — until the next meal, at least.
Quick-cooking farro is the real MVP
At about 10 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber per half a cup, Trader Joe’s farro has more of both nutrients than brown rice. I also personally find it tastier and more filling than quinoa, one of the only grains to be higher in protein and fiber than farro.
It’s a solid, versatile base. Sometimes I add vegetable stock to give it more body, or a splash of rice vinegar as I would to white rice. It’s great at absorbing sauces without getting too mushy.
But the best part is how quick it is to make. Whole farro usually takes at least 30 to 40 minutes to cook. TJ’s partially cooked farro, at $2 a bag, true to its name, takes 10 to 12 minutes — the same time commitment and process as boiling pasta.
I rotate the vegetables seasonally
Eating seasonal produce is a great way to save money. It’s also an easy hack for adding variety to the meal without overthinking it.
In the summer, I’ll usually roast sides like cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, asparagus, and zucchini. In colder months, I go for sweet potatoes, rainbow carrots, leeks, and Brussels sprouts.
While I sometimes splurge on a farm box, getting fancier-sounding veggies like fairy eggplant and Italian long peppers, produce at TJs is usually cheaper. Two bags of pre-cut broccoli and cauliflower are $5 total.
Including lots of vegetables packs in more nutrients (like fiber) and helps you feel full without the calories, which is fantastic for fat loss.
Salmon is the priciest part of the meal
Unsurprisingly, the most expensive part of the meal is the salmon, which is also the main source of protein. 4 ounces of salmon (about a quarter of a pound) is 23 grams of protein.
I get the fresh Atlantic salmon, which usually costs close to $10 for a little under a pound. We usually buy three packs, bringing us to $30 dollars just for the protein.
A recent purchase — three packs of salmon, two bags of broccoli-cauliflower mix, and two bags of farro — cost me $37 (not including ingredients I had at home, like olive oil and seasoning). This made six meals for us in total, bringing the average cost to $6 per serving.
Depending on how many veggies we use, sometimes we can stretch the meals to seven or even eight. I also tend to eat less salmon on days I run (because I need less protein for that than for weight training), which helps elongate the meals, too.
Seasoning keeps it from being boring
Sheet-pan meals have a lot going for them. They’re easy to whip together on a busy night and, if you’re not prone to burning the vegetables as often as I am, pretty delicious.
They can just get kind of boring.
Hence, I need seasonings to make it feel like I’m almost eating a different lunch every week. I love Trader Joe’s Salmon Rub, a mix of brown sugar and spices, and I’ll often use the 21 Seasoning Salute, a blend of seemingly every herb imaginable, on the veggies.
If I’m feeling a little more ambitious, I’ll look up sheet pan recipes and make a marinade. Because I love fresh garlic but hate taking all the little jackets off the cloves, I rely heavily on the Dorot Gardens frozen garlic cubes sold at Trader Joe’s, which don’t have the same aftertaste as jarlic.
I’ll just plop the garlic and ginger cubes into some soy sauce and sesame oil, let them melt, and stir everything together.
Protein-maxxing already feels like a second job. But at least a few times a week, I can eat a meal that doesn’t taste like it has a muscle-building agenda, even though it does.
Here’s the recipe:
2-3 packs of Fresh Atlantic Salmon (or another protein of choice)
2-3 bags of 10 Minute Farro
2-3 bags or packs of seasonal veggies that roast well (broccoli, bell peppers, asparagus, sweet potatoes)
Extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
Salt
Pepper
Seasoning for the protein and vegetables (I like Salmon Rub for the salmon and 21 Seasoning Salute for the vegetables)
1. Set the oven to 425°F.
2. Chop the vegetables and prepare any marinades.
3. Set up your sheet pans. Drizzle the oil on the vegetable sheet pan, add the veggies and seasonings, and mix. For the salmon, place the fish skin-side down, lightly drizzle with oil, and add seasoning or the marinade on top.
4. While everything is roasting, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the farro. After 10 to 12 minutes, drain the farro. (Optional, but recommended: add a splash of olive oil to keep the farro from sticking).
5. Roast both until the veggies are done (usually 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the vegetables) as well as the salmon (typically about 15 to 20 minutes, but check for doneness before serving).
6. Take the pans out of the oven and add any finishing touches (like a squeeze of lemon juice, some chopped scallions, or fresh herbs).
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
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