inspire me: vegan for a week

[onlyconnect]

I'd really appreciate some inspiration from vegans as I'm doing a vegan week. What are your favourite ordinary meals I can try? I have have ideas myself but would like to try some different meals that I don't normally have.

[Trills]

I did a vegan week a couple of years ago, just to shake up my regular eating patterns.

Coconut-based curries are one of my favourites.

[Cookingongas]

I did veganuary once (found it very hard- nothing but upmost respect for people who manage it full time!)

Thibgs i made for the first time then which are staples now are :

Pumpkin laksa

Aubergine and tomato curry and rice

Dhal

Roast mushroom, squash and rocket salad- top with crumbled walnuts

Ribollata

Chickpea tagine with cous cous

Veg pad Thai

Medjera

Avocado, tomato, and basil on toast

Good luck

[Allalonenow]

Mushroom risotto/pea & asparagus risotto
Pasta primavera/ pasta Siciliana
Caponata
Soup
Mixed vegetable stir fry with rice noodles

[lastqueenofscotland]

I'm in the middle of a vegan month
I made a white bean stew with spinach last night that was amazing

Loads of Indian/Chinese food is vegan friendly
Dry pasta is vegan friendly
Lentil chilli
Stir fries
Falafel
A simple one is roast new potatoes and cauliflower with salt and garam masala it's delicious!!!

[Convoysandwich]

I'm not vegan but enjoy vegan food.

Dal with rice and naan
Chickpea, courgette and potato curry
Falafel, houmous and salad in Pittsburgh bread with Sweet chilli sauce
Rice pudding made with coconut milk

[Convoysandwich]

Pittsburgh?? Pitta!

[RiverTam]

This tomato risotto is vegan if you just leave out the cheese and cream at the end

I make variations of this curry a lot

[RebeccaCloud9]

I'm trying to be more vegan (well eating a more plant-based diet, not exact enough to be vegan and still eat honey, wear leather etc so strict vegans wouldn't approve of me!) and do at least one full day vegan a week, plus trying to go for vegan options more and more. I find that it makes me think more carefully about what I eat, and steer away from processed foods as they often contain hidden animal products - also cheese is my biggest downfall diet wise!

Breakfasts
Porridge, overnight oats or muesli with almond milk, oatly or koko coconut milk
or
Smoothie made with frozen bananas and berries (I bag them up in portions when I buy them), oats, almond milk, topped with random stuff eg chia seeds, oatmeal

Lunch
Avocado and tomato&basil salad on crispbreads or crackers, just be careful as some have milk or egg in
Roast veg and quinoa/rice salad - prep and cook pots of each ingredient and keep them in the fridge to throw together each day
Homemade soup with whatever random veg I have. A good blend and adding soaked cashew nuts can make it creamy

Dinner
Homemade houmous, roast chickpeas, roast veg and cous cous - if you roast a couple of portobello mushrooms they are really tasty, filling and almost meaty
Cauliflower, broccoli and coconut curry
Purple sprouting broccoli with pasta, olive oil and black pepper, sprinkled with nutritional yeast
Jacket potato with avocado, fried onions and mushrooms

Dessert
Stewed fruit or fresh fruit salad
Vegan chocolates or ice cream - more and more available in the supermarkets (especially waitrose!) these days

For drinks, I either have water, jasmine tea, weak black tea or coffee with almond milk

[NannyMarmalade]

spanikopita
Here's a linkie to a vegan Greek recipe site.

The Vegan Society has a very good recipe section

This carrot and barley salad is lovely You can roast the carrots whole in rice bran oil instead of grating them and add freekah or farro to the salad too. Serve it warm if it's a chilly day.

[Allalonenow]

A very seasonal starter is roast asparagus, just drizzle with oil, add a clove or two of garlic and slice or two of lemon and roast for about 20 minutes, add extra lemon to serve with the cooking juices as a dressing.

[MelanieCheeks]

I'm working my way through Deliciously Ella at the minute, and many of the recipes are surprisingly easy and rather tasty.

I particularly liked the butter beans with pesto and pomegranate seeds (she has a vegan pesto recipe), but also a carbonara sauce made from soaked cashew nuts, steamed squash and marmite.

[onlyconnect]

Thank you. I'll definitely try some of these. I'm thinking I might make it a regular thing

[Allalonenow]

It's so nice when the poster comes back onto these threads with a thank you.

[Cornishblues]

I love this m.waitrose.com/worklight/apps/services/www/Waitrose_Real/mobilewebapp/default/Waitrose_Real.html?l=recipe&recipeUrl=/content/waitrose/en/home/recipes/recipe_directory/f/fine_rice_noodles_with_tofu_and_mushrooms.A4.html#waitrose_views_LeftSidebarMenu_0,waitrose/views/SearchCategoryView_0,waitrose/widgets/SwapView_0,LoginModalView,LoginView,dojox_mobile_SwapView_0,RecipeDetails

[Petal40]

I'm vegan,I'm getting tons of ideas of this thread...thankyou all....I've nothing to add...my diet is shit really....vegan chesse,avocado and salad every night for tea😩

[OnyK]

I'm veggie, but eat vegan meals about half of the week...regular meals include vegan spag bol, chilli, chickpea and veg curry, vegetable fajitas, veg tagine etc.

[onlyconnect]

I'm wondering if it's hard to be overweight if you're a vegan. All the ones I know (not many) are slim and all he food is very healthy

[lastqueenofscotland]

I think it's hard in some ways, most people I think have very high carb but very low fat diets.
Everything I like to snack on isn't vegan so that helped!

[DeliveredByKiki]

Im prob 90% plant based, this is a newfound favourite

minimalistbaker.com/spaghetti-squash-lasagna-bake/

I eat a LOT of quinoa based bowls, with things like roasted cauliflower and chickpeas or green veg sautéed or steamed, generally drizzled with tahini&lemon dressing and shit tons of chilli flakes

[Floppityflop]

I went vegan for a few weeks to get my cholesterol down and lost half a stone, but that wasn't eating vegan junk food (tempeh bacon excepted!). Jamie Oliver 15-minute meal chilli can be veganised. Home-made hummus is delish. Any Greek Lenten food should be vegan. Skhordalia, for example, made with potatoes, garlic and olive oil.

[potatoscowls]

I'm vegan and I'd really recommend trying vegan meats and cheeses. You can get the "junk-food" type ones such as Fry's Chicken-Style Nuggets (which are excellent). But also experiment with seitan (this stuff www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/416989_Sojade_Organic_Grilled_Seitan_Steak_200g.html) aka "wheat meat". It's incredibly high in protein and really delicious - I've got a stockpile in the fridge. My favourite way to eat it is fried with soy sauce and fresh garlic in a stir fry... mmmm.....

Hope you enjoy veganism, I really love it :)

[JE678]

If you have a sweet tooth and like creamy desserts coconut milk makes a great substitute for whipped cream. Pop a tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight. Open it and poke a hole in the fat that has solidified at the top of the tin. Drain the coconut water underneath off (it's great in smoothies), remove the coconut fat and whip it with a bit of sweetener- maple syrup is good. It makes a great cream substitute and is so tasty. I love it with a vegan brownie or vegan pancake and fruit. I just substitute the animal products for non dairy milks and oils.