Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Recipes: Vegans can be lazy too!

So you don't have loads of cash to eat out at pricey vegan restaurants, or the money to buy a fridge full of expensive prepared frozen vegan meals either? What if you additionally don't feel like cooking? That's how things have been for me lately, and guess what, you don't have to say being vegan is impossilbe, "Off to fast food chains we go!" No sirree. I've been such a lazy cook these past few weeks, so I haven't been posting my regular cooking posts. But in case you're curious out there, what do I eat when I don't have a half-hour+ to cook here it goes, my simple meals:

-Cereal and soy milk (organic raisin bran from Costco is vegan, so are Cheerios, Grapenuts and I also like whole wheat Chex, or old fashioned oat meal).

-Baked potatoes, with earth balance butter, dried parsley, chives, lots of salt and pepper, and tufutti sour cream if I have some. Easily blended into mashed potatoes, adding a little bit of soy milk.

-Nachos, with homemade bean dip (blend a can of black beans into a paste), melt Follow Your Heart gourmet vegan cheese into the beans, add hot sauce, diced pickled jalapenos, diced fresh tomatoes (or a can of diced tomatoes), avocado slices, tufutti sour cream if I have it, olives, and/or hummous too if I have it.

-Canned Soup with toast, Amy's soups are all (if not ALL then mostly all) vegan. Sometimes I sautee onions in the pot first then add a can till heated. I butter my toast with Earth Balance and dust some Nutritional yeast on top.

-Rice and beans,  I use our rice cooker to cook brown rice, and to cook quinoa. Minimal effort, and super filling/good for you. Add some canned beans or chili, and perhaps a few microwaved tortillas on the side. Yummy.

-Homemade Snack Fix- Trail mix- Frozen Dark Chocolate Chips (most dark chocolate is vegan- but check labels, none of Hershey's is) and salted mixed nuts (I buy a big tub from Costco).

-Simple Salad- Leafy Greens with whatever veggies I have on hand, bell peppers, grated carrots, tomatoes, avocado slices, and also strawberries, diced apple, nuts and seeds are good on there too. Flax seed oil and Balsalmic vinegar dressing- whipped together with spicy mustard so they don't separate.

-Ramen Noodles- I buy several different kinds at an Asian Market near my house, also Nissin brand, "oriental" is vegan (but Maruchan is not... so read the labels). The Asian Market also has just the noodles (which are vegan) without any flavor packets, so I can add a vegan bouillon cube for flavor. Also while water/noodles are boiling, I like to add some frozen veggies/broccoli into the water along with some dried parsley and siracha hot sauce. Also good to dip toast in.

-Pasta- I prefer Whole Wheat Noodles for added protein and fiber, but most are vegan (just not the egg noodles which are usually clearly advertised as such). There are several jarred and canned vegan tomato sauces that are delicious. I sautee some onions, throw in a jar of sauce with fresh garlic, jalapenos, frozen broccoli, soy rizo, and/or soy protein (substitute for ground meat)- whatever I happen to have, and that's about it.

-Artichokes- Steamed. I whip together a dipping sauce with mostly Veganese and some Siracha hot sauce and its so good! A classic.

-PB&J- You can't go wrong with that! Extra good with a tall, super cold glass of soy, rice or almond milk.

-Fruits! Grapefruits and Apples have been my favorites lately, and Satsumas, but also all fruits, melons, berries and veggies are always good snack foods. Fresh and dried.

3 comments:

  1. Unfortunately, Amy's Tomato Bisque Soup has milk products in it. I had it when I was just a vegetarian. It's really good. Sucks!

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  2. yeah there was a vague memory of some of them not being vegan (hence the, "if not all then mostly all").

    Here's a link with all the vegan/non vegan friendly soups listed and labeled as such: http://www.amys.com/products/category_view.php?prod_category=14

    :) Thanks Andrew! xo

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  3. ps... I forgot which were which, b/c my husband and I only ever buy the boxes at Costco, which only hold two flavors (both of which are vegan :)).

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