Easy but delicious vegan meals?

[BloodyCats]

I have a vegan guest coming to stay next year so I would like to start practicing some recipes now in preparation.
I was thinking of maybe doing a red Thai curry one night with mange tout, pepper and baby corn. Would tofu spoil it?

What are your favourite vegan recipes?

Anything by Deliciously Ella (recipes on her blog) is usually pretty darn good. I also like Thug Kitchen's south western USA / mexican vibe for tacos and the like. Tinned Tomatoes is another UK blog that has a lot of vegan recipes, and she's a hard working Mum so she's realistic with her timescales and costs.

This black bean chilli (www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/236609/black-bean-chilli) is really, really good.

I would definitely put tofu in a thai curry. I tend to flour it and fry it crispy and then add to the curry at the end. Equally nice to put in the pot and cook as well

You need to have protein. Pepper, mange tout and corn is more of a side dish. Tofu is best for a Thai curry, but if you want to go 'fusion' you could do chickpeas.

Mexican (eg burritos or tacos) with beans, fresh salsa, avocado, etc.

A good hearty soup is easily vegan, using lentils, beans and grains with a nice bread.

If you are using a jar of curry paste check that it doesn't contain fish sauce.

Tofu is amazing but it needs to be prepared. First press it (between two plates with a couple of heavy books on top) then cut and marinate in a Tupperware overnight in vinegar, lemon juice, salt and garlic powder. You can add this to curry, stir fry or salad and it's delicious.
Buy the bosh recipe book. They are the best.

One of my current favourites is a quick but incredibly delicious pasta sauce

You do need to bake a sweet potato, I usually do that the day before while I’m cooking dinner and then leave it in the fridge

While you are cooking the pasta, fry about 10 whole cherry tomatoes.
Once they are nicely softened sprinkle a pinch of oregano and thyme
Crush in a clove of garlic
Give it a minute in the heat, don’t let the garlic burn
If it is sticking add a spoon or 2 of the pasta water

Blitz the tomatoes with about the same volume of Baked sweet potato (usually about 1/2 a medium one)

Pour over your strained pasta and heat through

(The left over sweet potato makes an amazing sandwich filler with maybe hummus and veggies)

I'll second Bosh. Their Facebook videos are so inspiring.

I blitz in a food processor but you could use a hand held one with the mixture in a tall jug

We do a veg and noodle stir fry and make a sauce with peanut butter, chilli, ginger, garlic, hot sauce, soy sauce and a dash of vinegar. Then some nuts on top. Super quick and very good.

I didn’t think of fish sauce, I think my usual does contain it. I could always do an Indian curry one night instead.

Pasta sauce sounds delicious too. Thanks everyone, I’m going to get practicing 🙂

Defo interested.

Any child friendly vegan dishes? We are trying to eat at vegan/vegi a few times a week, so wanting healthy (not so carb heavy) food.

My son likes stir fried carrots, peas and baby sweetcorn (substitute whatever veg yours likes) with tofu pieces with rice, flavoured with soya sauce, garlic and black pepper. My son is so fussy but he really likes the tofu!
Also you can make a tasty 'cheese' sauce from potatoes and carrots believe it or not. You need to add a good glug of oil to make it smooth and cheesy and it works beautifully with pasta.
Ready made puff pastry is vegan, I make a Wellington thing and for DS I stick a veggie sausage (Linda mcartney) and some baked beans in pastry for a kid friendly version.
Veggie sausages and burgers are often vegan so an easy dinner is burger and chips or sausage and beans on toast.