Vegan sandwiches

[multipoodles]

Can I ask the vegans here what you like for sandwiches for work? I take soup to work, have done for years but as the family is virtually vegan the only problem they seem to have is with sandwiches! Apart from the odd falafel/humus/pitta we tend to eat huge salad in wholemeal, they're getting bored with salad. I'd love some fresh ideas please

I'm not a vegan and I first wanted to write, 'First catch your vegan' when I saw your title. However, how about:

Tartex pate (from Holland and Barratt)

avocado and cashew nut with a bit of vegan mayo/yoghurt with some herbs stirred in

cold nut loaf

lentil pate

Is Nutella from H&B vegan? I used to love that in sarnies, with salad

Olive paste (but it's v salty)

Hoummus type spreads made with other beans/flavourings

Shredded carrots, red onion, cabbage, leeks with a bit of yoghurt or whatever to bind and some nuts

peanut butter and grated apple
houmous and grated carrot
roasted veg with onion chutney
Tofutti garlic and herb spread with cucumber
other nut butters (hazel very nice)
spicy onion and tomato relish

pesto and tomato

Ripe avocado, lemon juice, black pepper.

Nutella and salad???

Anyway, you can make some nice nut cheeses quite easily, search the Maple Spice blog for the almond feta.

Sliced Seitan, with all kinds of condiments. Again on Maple Spice there is a nice recipe for sliced Seitan.

quorn ham and coleslaw

roasted veg and houmous, I have it in a local cafe toasted and it is lovely, they add chilli jam - I guess sweet chilli sauce would be pretty good as well.

Ooh and have just remembered something too - I did a tofu recipe the other day which involved pressing the tofu to make it dense and dryer and then slicing and roasting it. It went all crispy and smoky tasting and would have made an awesome blt type thing!

Quorn isn't vegan Greensleeves

For easy stuff have a look at the vegusto website, really nice fake meats, and decent cheese.

Or make your own seitan.

Or marinated baked tofu slices

I know it's a bit hippy but a handful of sprouted beans adds nice crunch and taste.

mashed banana and avacado
already had peanut butter and apple
stewed red cabbage and apple

is it not? I thought it was made from mycoproteins

disregard that one then! personally I think it tastes of burnt rubber, but know others who like it

Thank you so much some brilliant suggestions. The maple spice blog looks very good looks like I'll get some nice vegan recipes there too. :)

Lots of Turkish recipes are vegan if you omit or subsitute the yoghurt. What about...

vegetable fritter in a bun/pitta.

Pickled red cabbage with nut pate
veg pate
cashew nut butter with sprouted seeds and grated apple
Orange and coleslaw with bashed peanuts
Broad bean puree with garlic and tomato paste,
aubergine puree with pomegranate seeds baba ganoush
Cornish pasties (make pastry with veg shortening) and stuff with mashed peas, swede and potatoes
Potatos bravas
Samosas made with filo pastry mashed potatos, pea puree cumin and curry powder
Cigaret pies filo pastry with spinach and substitute feta cheese.
Roasted veg in bulghur in a Tupperware
Stuffed peppers with tomato, rice and spring onions

You don't have to take sarnies...have you looked at Hugh F-W's Veg Everyday book? It's packed with ideas that can be adapted for vegans.

You can buy vegan jelly crystals or agar flakes (a bit expensive) and make fruit or savory jellies.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie please could you post a recipe for your crispy, smoky tofu?

sundried tomatoes, sliced olives and toasted seeds (sesame, pumpkin, sunflower) make a great addition to any salad or houmous sandwich, as do chilli flakes. Seeds can be dry roasted in larger quantities, with a dash of tamari or soy and kept in an air tight container. If you are short on time, you can instead buy branded varieties such as Munchy Seeds

nut butter with yeast extract (we prefer Meridian to Marmite) and grated carrots

falafels sliced with salad, served with either tahini or sweet chilli sauce (or both) are very tasty

taifun do tasty marinated tofus, which are good sliced in sandwiches, teamed up with some crispy lettuce flavours include basil, rosso (tangy tomato) and smoked with almond and sesame seeds

cold veggie hot dogs/ sausages with mustard and mayo. Redwoods and Taifun brands are good and can be found in most healthstores. Waitrose also stock them. Personally would steer clear of frozen varieties of sausages such as Linda McCartney

I would say houmous! :)

Open packet of firm tofu (from fridge aisle) and drain. Wrap in a teatowel and put on a plate and put another plate on top of it. Leave for a few hours.

Then slice into thinnish slices and dip into some oil which you've mixed with spices. Bake about 40 mins. I used five spice powder but I think paprika would be good.

I think Quorn has egg protein in it as well as the mycoprotein -something non-vegan like that.

I'm not a vegan but currently loving almond butter - like peanut butter but much nicer. Can't remember the brand, got it in Sainsburys. I had some on home-made banana and oat bread toast today

Cheatin ham. You can get it from some health food stores. I used to love that stuff, along with vegan mayonaise.

RemusLupinsBG, we have something similar most mornings for breakfast (although a quicker version), between pieces of toast/bagel/rye with cooked tomatoes, mushrooms and relishes. Tofu squeezed, sliced and quickly marinated in smoked paprika, soy sauce and veg oil, then fried in pan for few mins on each side. Sometimes have slices of tempeh instead of tofu (no draining required). That said, when there's more time, tofu that has been marinated for a few hours (we do ginger, soy sauce, garlic and veg oil), then braised in the oven is really tasty.

Is mayo vegan? :-S I would have thought not, same for pesto, doesn't that contain Parmesan?

I used to buy vegan mayo from the health food shop. It definitely was vegan, but I cant remember the make of it.

Plamil make a vegan mayo, so do Granovita but theirs isn't as nice IMO.

There are a few brands of vegan pesto, Meridian are one. Or just make your own.

Talking of the Plamil mayo, for some lunches I like to stack a few things onto a ryvita, e.g. mayo (garlic variety) or caramelised onion humous, vegan cheese (Cheezly), sunblush toms, few sprigs of rocket.

Remus thank you for the tofu recipe, will give it a try this week!

Stormin i did mean to say vegan mayo, if you would like to try some, most supermarkets stock at least one variety of vegan mayo in their Free From section, usually Plamil or Granovita. Mayola is my personal healthfood store favourite but doesn't seem to be as widely stocked.

I think that traditionally the pesto is prepared with just oil, basil, garlic, salt and nuts and the cheese grated in separately if desired (but I may be wrong!) One of the finest Italian brands, Seggiano do a delicious raw basil pesto, which is vegan.