That curry recipe looks tasty. Pretty funny to say a curry recipe that calls for a can of full-fat coconut milk is “oil free,” though.
Extra firm tofu
cut into rectangles
pat dry
marinade with equal amounts:
soy sauce
hot chili oil
olive oil
sesame oil to taste
(and anything else you like)
Grill or bake oil browned
serve with brown rice and veggies
Sriracha
Have taken this to HS potlucks and the students devour it
@OhiBro I would love your Instant Pot recipes!
I actually got a cookbook from Amazon for the Instant Pot that is great for the basics - “Epic Vegan Instant Pot Cooking for Lazy *****” ; author is Hannah Janish. Quick, oil free meals.
My 16 year old daughter has been a vegetarian since age 7 and decided she needed to go vegan in 2019. We have been doing the Purple Carrot meal box service, which is all vegan, and we have loved it! I knew we were going to need a quick ramp-up in terms of our knowledge of vegan cooking and that we are very busy, so having recipes and boxes of ingredients delivered to our house every week works for us. All the Purple Carrot recipes are available on their website! Here’s a link to a recent one which was a big hit at our house and which pretty much everyone in the Purple Carrot community LOVED.
https://www.purplecarrot.com/plant-based-recipes/bbq-cauliflower-tacos-with-crispy-tortillas-lime-crema
How has the quality of the produce been, @BookLvr? I ordered from them once and that was enough. Good to know about the recipes being available on the website, though!
I want to try tempeh but the one in Trader Joe is not good (IMO). Can anyone recommend a brand and where to find it?
@sabaray --The quality of the produce has been excellent. The only ingredient that I can think of off the top of my head that arrived in less that wonderful shape were the tortillas for the taco recipe listed above, which had gotten a little broken up in shipping. (They were soft tortillas, and they tore.) They were still usable, though.
Oh! And I had one eggplant that I had to replace, but that might have been our fault. We didn’t get to that recipe for awhile, and I think eggplants have less shelf life than some other veggies.
There have occasionally been substitutions in produce items when the Purple Carrot people felt they couldn’t get good enough quality of the ingredient originally listed, e.g., substituting string beans for sugar snap peas if they weren’t happy with the sugar snap peas the growers were showing them. I’m okay with that, and it is pretty rare, but it does happen.
We only started Purple Carrot in January 2019, but my impression is that they have improved their processes over time.
I bought Hain 5 grain tempeh that I think is one of the better tasting ones. All of them are going to have that “nutty” flavor - I think it’s best when marinated in something with a strong flavor. Another product I’ve tried and like is Bob’s Red Mill Textured Vegetable Protein. Good for meatless main dishes.
@psychmomma
Here are the Instant Pot recipes. These all serve 4.
I have a 6-quart IP and a 3-quart. 3-quart is great for the rice. Set it and forget it. So simple.
Sometimes my simplicity can make things a little bland. Up the spice levels, if you wish.
Black beans and rice
- Pre-soak 1 pound black beans for 7-10 hours (while at work)
- 1 small-medium sweet onion and 4 cloves garlic diced; sauté in IP in a little oil for a few minutes
- Add 1 quart water
- Add rinsed beans
- Add 1-1/2 tsp chili powder
- Add 1/2 tsp salt
- Set IP manually for 15 minutes at high pressure
- After 15 minutes of natural pressure release, release pressure
- In 3-quart IP:
- Add 1.5 cups (not rice cups) of long grain white rice, rinsed
- Add 2.5 cups water (for “sticky” rice)
- Add 1 Tbs butter
- Add 1/2 tsp salt
- Press Rice button on IP
- Natural pressure release.
Both will finish about the same time. Serve beans over rice, and mix in a little bit of your favorite salsa.
Spinach and lentil soup (Simplified from https://www.kitchentreaty.com/instant-pot-vegan-golden-lentil-spinach-soup/)
- Prepare spices in a cup: 1 tsp ground cumin, 1-1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 fresh ground black pepper
- 1 small sweet onion and 4 cloves garlic diced; about 1-1/2 cups diced carrots; sauté in IP in a little oil for a few minutes
- Add spices near the end of sauté
- Add 1 quart vegetable stock (chicken broth makes it a little tastier, if you feel like a cheating vegan ;))
- Add 1 heaping cup rinsed green lentils
- Set IP manually to 12 minutes at high pressure
- After 15 minutes of natural pressure release, release pressure
- Add several handfuls of spinach. Will seem like a lot until you stir it in.
Chickpea curry (Simplified from https://www.chefdehome.com/recipes/626/vegan-chickpea-curry-in-pressure-cooker)
- Pre-soak 1 pound chickpeas / garbanzo beans for 7-10 hours (while at work). These expand quote a bit, so make sure there is enough water
- Prepare spices in a single cup: 3/4 tsp chili powder, 3/4 tsp garam masala, 3/4 tsp turmeric, 1-1/3 Tbs curry powder
- Prepare tomato purée: blend 3 Roma tomatoes until relative smooth
- Prepare onion and garlic: 1 small-medium sweet onion and 4 cloves garlic diced
- Sauté onion and garlic in IP in a little oil for a few minutes
- Add tomato purée and continue stirring for a couple minutes
- Add spices and stir for a minute
- Add 2 cups water
- Add rinsed chickpeas
- Set IP manually to 25 minutes at high pressure
- After 15 minutes of natural pressure release, release pressure
- Scoop out a few large spoonfuls of chickpeas and mash them with a potato masher
- Add mashed chickpeas and stir
- Add 2 Tbs lemon juice
- Make rice as above
- Serve over rice, with enough curry broth to make the rice tasty
^ Thank you!!!
Has there been any scientific consensus reached on whether Soy is ok or not for 50-something women?
Now that we’ve cut out meat, I’m trying to figure out how to replace it (other than the veggie/protein meatlike products).
I’ve found that you shouldn’t try to eat fake whatever, at least until your palate has forgotten what the real stuff tastes like. If you start eating fake cheese the day you go vegan, you’ll compare it to real cheese and honestly you’ll probably hate it. Similar to other non-vegan products. I have never liked tofu or veggie burgers/nuggets/etc. but some people love them.
Once you’re ready to try “replacements” be open and try lots of different ones until you find what you like. Almond milk is my favorite but there’s also soy, hemp, rice, oat, etc. I didn’t find eggs to hard because I just don’t like them, but I believe they make imitation egg for scrambled eggs/omelets.
Check and recheck labels if you want to be strict about your diet. Some really weird things include dairy or eggs or honey. Some barbecue chips have actual meat “powder” (whatever that means lol)
But, the best advice I can give is take it slow and don’t be hard on yourself. First cut out meat, then milk, then eggs, etc. It’s so much harder to go cold turkey on everything. If you eat something and then realize it had meat that’s okay, if you break down at 2 am because the only thing that looks semi edible isn’t vegan/vegetarian that’s okay. Good luck and have fun! there are a lot of great vegan recipes out there.
H and I are meat eaters but we moved to Boulder, Colorado so several friends are vegan. H started picking up vegan recipes so he could prepare things that everyone could eat.
In Indian cooking, cream can be substituted with coconut milk, butter with oil and paneer with firm tofu which can convert many recipes vegan (if they aren’t already). Chickpeas are also delicious stewed in most curries in lieu of the meat we might ordinarily use.
For dessert, this vegan chocolate cake recipe is fluffy and moist (and easy!):
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16779/vegan-chocolate-cake/
We often pair it with a vegan peanut butter buttercream like this one:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/245390/vegan-fluffy-peanut-butter-frosting/
That cake recipe is our general go-to chocolate cake (even when not cooking for vegans) and we like the peanut butter buttercream as you don’t miss the butter. The cake recipe will yield a dozen cupcakes and we find those are done in 22-25 minutes. The soy milk can be substituted with whatever milk substitute you have in the fridge in our experience, if you want to avoid soy. We bring these cupcakes to parties and they’re loved by vegans and omnivores alike.
We’ve also recently gotten into Quorn meat alternative products (they’re made with a mold-based protein!) after trying them at a local supermarket and being shocked they weren’t real meat. Some of the products in the line are vegan. We really like the meatless spicy patties, and we’ve been able to get an amazing coupon/store sale/Ibotta combo on them where we get them for less than a dollar a box (at King Soopers, a Kroger chain). So we’ve been eating these A LOT, because they’re cheap (but only with the coupon combo) and also to cut down on our meat consumption.
Lastly, a note on vegan baking - I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason vegan baked goods get a bad rap is that places are often trying to tick off every dietary restriction in one offering. At least here the vegan baked option is often also gluten/nut/soy free so obviously it’s awful. Baked goods that are vegan only can be delicious. If you’re ever in Boulder, Naked Lunch makes a killer vegan chocolate chip cookie that is indistinguishable from a cookie made with butter.
For every dish that I’ve ever had where people said I wouldn’t miss the butter, I missed the butter.
I bet you $100 that in a blind tasting I could distinguish the vegan chocolate chip cookie from the one with butter.
However, there are many delicious vegan dishes. Anyone have a recipe for Mayocoba beans? I saw a two pound bag of Mayocoba beans, and having never even heard of them I had to buy them. Now what should I do with them?
If you take a dish that depends on a non-vegan flavor, like a wonderful tasty buttery chocolate chip cookie, or a beef stew, and then you remove that non-vegan ingredient, don’t tell me I won’t miss the non-vegan ingredient. I will, and I don’t like to be lied to.
I look at the food world a different way. There are many, many delicious foods. Some are vegan, and some are not. Give us the recipes that are naturally vegan and delicious, if you want to promote veganism. Give us something new to like, instead of reminding us what we’re missing by giving up what we like.
I recommend Samin Nosrat’s salad from the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/magazine/best-green-salad-recipe.html
Last night I made Samin’s salad, and some spaghetti with a peanut butter sauce. It was delicious and vegan, without any insulting claims that removing butter from a butter-flavored recipe makes no difference.
Like I said, H and I are omnivores and those cookies are on par with any butter-based chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had. I don’t know how they do it but they’re fantastic. I can’t say that it would be to your taste but I love butter and I think these cookies are great. Same with the buttercream, because the dominant flavor is peanut butter. I’ve had butter-based and shortening-based versions and I can’t tell the difference. Maybe you’re a butter supertaster so your mileage may vary.
@“Cardinal Fang” , I agree. It’s best to enjoy vegan and vegetarian food on its own and not pretend to resemble non vegan food. Take tempeh. It’s an Indonesian staple so I look up their recipes and go from there. SE Asian tofu recipes are delicious and creative. Simple grilled vegetables Italian style was some of the best I ever had in Tuscany. Of course, they probably just picked them from their backyard!
I bake a lot and so far, no vegan baked goods have passed muster with me. The mouthfeel of butter is irreplaceable. There are plenty of vegan desserts from other cultures that don’t rely on eggs or butter since in many countries, they are not easily available. They are not cakes or cookies but they are delicious if you are open to it.
We have very picky eaters in our circle of friends. Have you tried gluten free/vegan pizza? Just say NO.They can be whatever else, just not pizza.
There’s a Thai dessert that is mango slices over sweetened sticky rice, covered with coconut cream. It’s so delicious, and naturally vegan. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sticky-rice-with-mango-12066
I’ve done baking without butter. Samin Nosrat, again, has a ginger cake made with oil that is moist and gingery and fabulous (recipe in the Cake thread from a few weeks back, non-vegans should try it, it’s so good). But dessert baking without butter and eggs is more difficult and I’ve had no success.
I once tried gluten free vegan pizza. Oh dear.
I love ginger so went looking for the cake recipe. If CF and Consolation both approve, it’s a winner in my book.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21997187/#Comment_21997187