Protein-packed foods are the latest craze. Videos and recipes promote ways to infuse your diet with the amino acid-rich nutrient, credited with reducing appetite, pumping muscle mass and improving bone health.
It’s no surprise, then, that some protein-dense foods made University of Virginia alumna and Washington Post food editor Becky Krystal’s list of this year’s “it” ingredients. UVA Today asked her for her top picks and tips to infuse your diet with these on-trend items and add some new-to-you tongue tinglers.
Cottage Cheese
“It’s definitely kind of trendy, especially with the obsession with protein right now,” Krystal said. “It’s rich, it’s creamy, it’s a little tangy.”
Becky Krystal is a 2005 alumna. She became the recipes editor for the Washington Post in 2024. (Contributed photo)
The Post recently ran a recipe for savory cottage cheese pancakes. “Columnist Ellie Krieger does a weekly column for us. A lot of people made them and most people liked them,” Krystal said “They’re a really filling breakfast. They’re even a fun breakfast-for-dinner type of thing.”
Beans
Dense bean salads are also having a moment. “Beans – they’re not going anywhere and we get so many questions from people wanting to use them and (asking) how to use them,” the food editor said. “It’s basically a way, again, to get a lot of protein in a fairly dense package.”
You can use canned beans or cook them yourself and toss in other ingredients, like roasted sweet potato cubes, edamame and spices. “It’s one of the things that holds up really well in the fridge and actually probably improves the flavor over a day or two because it’s soaking up the flavors,” Krystal said.
Chili Crisp
“Another thing we’ve been seeing a lot of that I don’t think is going away is chili crisp,” the editor said. “It’s a condiment. It’s usually spicy. It’s got a fermented bean component, Sichuan peppercorns or other chilies, salt. Sometimes you get it with peanuts or sesame seeds or something like that,” Krystal explained. It’s a scoopable flavor that can be swirled into soups, drizzled on top of eggs or incorporated into pasta dishes.
Miso
The traditional Japanese seasoning, miso, also made the list. “It’s a fermented condiment,” Krystal said. “It’s often made with soy.”
The Post recently ran celebrated chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s miso butter pasta recipe. “It’s a really simple linguine,” Krystal said. “You make almost a pasta sauce of the miso and garlic and butter, and it’s a super simple, comforting recipe.”
It has also been used in sweet dishes, like this pear and toasted miso upside-down cake.
Matcha
“There’s been a lot more attention paid to Asian ingredients and recipes and we’ve seen that in the cookbooks, especially in the baking cookbooks, that have come out,” the food editor said.
