What lunch would you serve for a vegan?

[TheOriginalXENA]

Can anyone give me any ideas please? thanks in advance!

See - they're even picky about the white wine. Gotta be careful with spaghetti

oh and btw if you do a pasta dish - check the pasta, as most contain egg.

it's just the one meal, though, Quattro!

here's the other one i used to do - still do - in the slow cooker for extra laziness/short on time.

Lentil Sloppy Joes:
1 tssp veg oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 cups cooked lentils - can be from a tin!, drained and rinsed
hot pepper sauce (optional).
rolls

Saute onion and celery until softened. Add garlic, salt, oregano and pepper and cook, stirring for about a minute. Stir in ketchup, water, vinegar, brown sugar and mustard. Bung in slow cooker. Add lentils and stir well. Cook on low 6 hours or high 3 hours, depending on time constraints.

Add hot pepper sauce to taste.

Ladle over hot, toasted rolls.

Dried pasta usually doesn't contain egg, but almost all fresh pastas do.

I make a roasted vegetable pasta dish.

Chop pepper, courgette, aubergine, onions, leeks, asparagus and mushrooms up and put in a roasting tin, sprinkle with some olive oil, crushed garlic and herbs.
Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes until charred.
Cook pasta until soft, drain and mix with some vegan pesto or a tomato sauce.

Tip pasta into veg and mix together, top with some breadcrumbs and a drizzle of olive oil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are crispy.

(For non vegans, I always use pesto on the pasta and some mozzarella on the top)

I made this late night and was munching it, it's perfect for lunch.

Spicy Baked Beans:
2 cans vegan baked beans
2 T olive oil
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp chilli powder - I use 1 tsp hot and 1 mild
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried mustard
1/2 tsp salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3-4 tbsp treacle

Heat oil and cook onion, peppers, chilli, mustard and salt over medium heat for about 10 mins.

Add garlic and cook another 2 mins. Add beans and remaining ingredients.

Adjust vingear, treacle and spices to taste.

Pour into an oiled casserole dish, cover and bake at 350 for 40mins.-1 hour.

Serve with bread or tortillas and salad.

I have needmorecoffee's wonderful vehgan cheesecake recipe somewhere if you want it (or she may be about)

I like to make this one in summer because it's excellent to take on picnics (am not a vegan, but we eat a lot of pulses in our family as it's good for you and economical)

Baked White Bean Puree:
1 finely chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
2 410g cannellini beans, drained with liquid reserved in a bowl
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil.
1 tbsp breadcrumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a medium saucepan coated with olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent. Add 1 tsp of the rosemary, the beans and salt and pepper and saute until very hot.

1. Transfer the mixture to a food processor, add the vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil and 3 tbsp of the reserved liquid and puree until smooth, adding more liquid as needed.

1. Mix the breadcrumbs, the remaining rosemary and the remaining olive oil in a small bowl.

1. Place the bean mix into a casserole, top with breadcrumb mix and bake until golden, about 20 mins.

Serve with crostini, pitta, etc.

More thanks Actually have sloppy joes on my menu plan this week! I hadn't heard about them until wednesday. I'm sure they would be happy with bread and olive oil but I do love cooking.

Peachy a cheesecake pudding would be fantastic - I'd look like a pro

these dishes are all fun to make and i've made them LOTS over the years!

they just happen to be vegan, too.

there you go- we're not vegan (but we are dairy free- well 3 /5 of us) and this was truly delicious.

risotto for winter - wild mushroom or asparagus or cous cous in the summer

Are you dairy free for medical reasons or choice? I am considering looking at cutting down dairy due after hearing about the routine antibiotics etc given to cows. (made me feel abit sick!)

have you tried organic dairy, Xena?

worth the extra £££ because contains Omega 3s.

Quick vegan question... Why do they not like to drink milk? Isn't it bad for a cow not to be milked? And if so then what would they suggest happens to the milk? And the same for cheese and yog etc.

Also hens lay eggs naturally so why shouldn't they be eaten??

princessmel - much like humans, cows only produce milk once they've produced a calf. They take the calves away from the mothers but carry on milking them. If they weren't milked, like humans, their milk would dry up. Also because male cows are useless in a dairy herd, they get killed (and aren't eaten).

So lots of vegans don't eat dairy because they think that's cruel.

(I'm a meat eater btw)

I haven't yet Expat, but I guess if I could get them to cut down on their milk consumption, then it wouldn't actually make much difference to the food bill iyswim? We really struggle with getting the little two to drink enough.

Maybe look at cutting back in another area to afford organic dairy and see how you get on?

It really isnt' that much more expensive, FWIW.

Pizza.

Thanks spicemonster. Why do they not eat the male cows?? I can't see how they'd waste it?

And does it hurt the cows to milk them??

gary rhodes mushroom pudding (ommiting any butter he uses and replacing with olive oil) but with a nice red onion gravy rather than the frothy thing he has in the recipe. It's tasty and substantial.

I don't think it hurts them particularly and you get a much better yield if you're kind to them - many dairy farmers play music in their milking sheds

Basically cows are either bred for dairy or for meat. And dairy cows aren't generally good eaters plus they don't want to keep them alive for any longer than needed (uneconomical) so they don't keep them long. I suppose they might make dog meat with them ...

Oh Poor baby boy cows.

That is a good website you linked to peachy, thanks. I might try the pizza when DD invites her friend who is vegan.

I know, sad isn't it?