This isn’t really a post to debate veganism, just an observation that with the spread of bird flu, it might be time for all of us to add some good vegan recipes to our collections.
What are some of your easy, favorite recipes that non-vegans might be interested in trying?
We try to eat one vegan or vegetarian dinner/week.
Pasta with whatever veggies I have on hand with basil pesto is one of our easy throw together at the last minute dinners.
I also do a vegetarian chili (vegan if you don’t add cheese at the end) - black beans, kidney beans, red beans, a can of medium salsa, chili seasoning and then add diced avocado before serving.
That’s basically my recipe. But I use Rotel tomatoes rather than salsa and add diced onion, pepper, zuchinni, corn or whatever I have on hand.
I make a lot of vegan soups. Roast butternut squash and shallot. Add veg broth, ginger and or garlic and puree. Lots of ways to mix it up (try adding apple or sage etc).
We eat pretty close to vege-pescatarian. Tonight we had fish tacos.
On the vegan side, plenty of soups and lentil dishes. We like dal, lentil curry, all types of salads and bowls. We also make a lot of traditional recipes just swapping mushrooms for the meat. Some of our favorites:
I’ll eat beans, but I’m not really a “bean person”. My new favorite thing is butter beans. I’ll eat those things any way I can think of. Good enough to have straight from the can, but I really like them in a butter bean salad (I chop up a bunch of veggies, lots of parsley, a can of butter beans, oil, vinegar, and spices). I find they go really well with pasta as well.
Last week I purreed 1/2 a can on butter beans with cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, pepper, and a little almond milk to make an alfredo-like sauce. I poured that over pasta (gf pasta), zucchini, and mushrooms, along with the other 1/2 a can of beans. Heating all together in the pan really thickened up the sauce, and everything melded together nicely. I won’t fool anyone into thinking it’s alfredo, but it was really good.
had a great 16-bean soup tonight. Based on vegetable stock I make from veg scraps.
I don’t eat beef, so I often use Beyond or Impossible meatballs or crumbles in places of ground beef, making a lot of meals vegan.
We eat a ton of pesto (frozen during the summer from our enormous basil crop), though I make it with parmesan, so not vegan. I have heard that nutritional yeast would work but I have not tried it.
We make homemade hummus a lot. Great as a dip for veggies/pita chips, or as a base to a sandwich or wrap. This is the recipe we use - it is incredible.
We will also do vegan tostadas: fried corn tortilla round, vegetarian refried beans, lettuce, diced onion, chopped tomato, avocado, top with salsa/pico de gallo
The hummus recipe reminded me of my baba. You will never buy store bought again. How to Make Authentic Baba Ganoush | The Mediterranean Dish
My favorite topping for Buhdda bowls or salads is currently (Ithaca) lemon dill hummus thinned with a little water.
I’ve found it difficult to really make a good homemade hummus. I grew up where it was a staple, and I’m not certain why homemade never tastes right to me, how it differs from the stuff I buy. I’ve had hummus with different tastes and textures (I had one at an Armenian restaurant that had labneh added and it was amazing), but have yet to taste a homemade one that tastes “right” to me. To be entirely truthful, I have never tasted homemade hummus made by somebody from the Middle East (everybody just buys the stuff)
Luckily, there are a number of places here in town that make their own and have it for sale. A hummus plate (olive oil and maybe some cooked chickpeas on top), pita, fresh vegetables and pickles make for an amazing vegan or vegetarian meal.
I love grilled (better yet, charred) eggplant so much that it never makes to baba ghanoush. I definitely like it better than baba ganoush.
Another great recipe: broiled eggplant with a tahini sauce. You cut an eggplant in half, score it deeply in two directions, sprinkle with salt and pepper and your favorite Middle Eastern spice mix, put under the broiler until it browns (or blackens a bit), and smother with your favorite tahini-based sauce. Eat as a side or as a main dish
Tahini sauce: Mix raw tahini with water until it changes color, and then add more water until it’s almost as thick as you like, add lemon juices, crushed garlic, salt, chopped fresh parsley, and whatever other spices you want (you can try coriander, sumac, paprika, etc) harissa, if you like is spicy, etc.
It’s really best to experiment until you find what tastes you like. You can also just eat the eggplant with salt, pepper, garlic and lemon juice, covered with crumbled feta.
What tahini do you like? I feel like that’s why my hummus never tastes great. I feel like Joyva is probably the best, but I always get duped into getting something in a squeeze bottle.
I’m not MWolf but I really like Soom
I second the Soom recommendation.
I used to feel the same as you before I found/made this recipe. It was a game changer for me, and I won’t eat store bought hummus at all anymore.
Do you do the garlic lemon oil over the top as well?
Tonight we had black beans served over brown rice. Topped with cilantro, chopped tomatoes, green onions and pickled red onions. I did add cheese but you could skip it.
I made Domingo black beans from Rancho Gordo. They turned out great.
We use Ziyad, and I definitely recommend it.
We eat these all the time. I also cook a lot from an excellent cookbook called “East”
When I’m planning on eating/serving it immediately, I do the garlic lemon oil. It is excellent.
When I’m making the hummus for sandwich base, I usually don’t make the oil as I’m planning on using harissa as a topping to the hummus.
