Any help for someone trying to be vegan

[NoveltyCereal]

Hi all,

So as of two weeks ago, I've decided to go straight from eating most things (meat and dairy included) to being vegan (I have caveated that with I'll probably try/eat most things when on holiday and also if I go to someone's house and they are cooking for us).

I have a partner and 2 kids under 5 who will not be going vegan but DP is amazing and has tried to incorporate tofu, lentils etc into meals. Anyway, I've dabbled a bit and made some vegan mayo, cookies and my own plant milks. We like cooking but I'm sort of in limbo as a lot of vegan blogs/YT channels seem to be about doing vegan meal prep (which isn't the way I want to eat either myself or as a family) or there are some lovely fancy recipes but these probably require some time and also might not be the most kid friendly.

I guess I'm just looking for any tips/advice from anyone who might be the sole vegan in the family, how do you deal with things food wise and also do you have any blog/channel recommendations for sort of great 'mid-week' meals which might be able suitable for everyone?

Thanks!

Generally I find it better to cook recipes which are naturally vegan than to try to recreate meat eggs and dairy. Dishes centred around vegetables, grains and pulses with fresh herbs and spices are delicious. I’m vegetarian, my husband isn’t, but I do the vast majority of the cooking so my husband mostly eats meat free, and he’s happy to do so.

I’m in love with Meera Sodha’s recipes. She has a long running column in the Guardian called The New Vegan, which has many great recipes in it. The miso butter greens pasta, banh mi (from a few years ago, haven’t tried the one from this weekend yet) and her seasonal pilaus are coming to mind, but I’ve tried and enjoyed so many of the recipes on there. Her last three cookbooks (and upcoming one) are vegetarian, not vegan but many of the recipes in there are vegan. Also in the Guardian, Felicity Cloake has excellent recipes for vegan ragù and chilli. Ottolenghi also has many vegan (or easily veganised) available for free on the Guardian and YouTube - though a lot of Ottolenghi recipes are far from midweek meals!!

One other piece of advice which I learned way too late about making meat free meals by replacing mince with lentils, is that beef has a huge amount of savoury flavour, so replacing beef with lentils will work texturally, but be fairly bland in a way where adding extra salt and acid won’t fix. Umani rich foods include porcini mushroom stock, mushrooms in the sauce, tomato puree, marmite, miso, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, kombu, or a straight up pinch of MSG if you’re happy to eat it will add a massive depth of flavour and make the dish so much better. Learning how to boost umami in meals has been such a game changer.

Some family meals that easily adapt for vegans and non:

Pasta (dried not fresh) with tomato based sauce and green veg, plus pine nuts and/or cheese to sprinkle on top
Vegan and meat sausages with fried onions, veg, mash (use marge and plant milk) and v bisto
Potato, spinach and chickpea curry and rice, samosas, add a microwave meat curry if needed
Stir fry with frozen edamame and fried tofu and sprinkle with cashews or peanuts or sesame seeds (fry chicken separately if they insist) but check not egg noodles
Mushroom risotto using marge, keep the cheese to go on top for those who want it
Try making seitan from scratch? Cheap and v high in protein. Use in pies, stir fries, stews. Freeze spare portions.
Jacket pots with baked beans or bean chilli
Tacos with guacamole, refried beans, salsa
All day breakfast - mushroom, toms, beans, hash browns, toast, v sausages or v bacon, plus real meat and scrambled eggs for those who want
Vegan burgers and meat burgers with buns, salad and oven chips / onion rings / sweet potato fries
Roast veg, falafels, hummus, pitta, olives, add shop bought kofta if required
Use jus rol pastry to make a puff pastry pizza and just put meat/cheese on half of it

Everyone will benefit from a bit less meat overall but just remember pulses, beans, nuts, tofu, seitan, satay, seeds, avocado, olive oil etc so no one goes hungry

Thanks - I'll def check her out! I was raised Hindu so luckily (or maybe not!) beef was already off the table (pun intended).

I agree with you - whilst I've tried plenty of meat alternatives over the years, I'm definitely more about the idea of cooking dishes based around natural foods and adding umami intensifiers to maximise flavour. Admittedly I was only coming around to tofu in the last couple of years and if it's not something I truly enjoy, I don't see why I should be filling up on it just because I am vegan when there is so much other stuff out there!

Thank you so much for this - definitely given me some ideas of things to make for the whole family :)

I swear I recommend this blog post on every new veggie/vegan post but it is really helpful for ideas of how to cook for 2 diets. The blogger is vegetarian but the general ideas will work for vegans too.
https://www.easycheesyvegetarian.com/vegetarians-and-meat-eaters/

Another vote for Meera Sodha, East is my most used cookbook.

For online content I watch a lot of it but seem to never get around to trying the recipes but my current favourite vegan content creators are:
PlantYou (she has a series called quickies that may be good)
Fit Green Mind
Beextravagent

I used to not be a fan of tofu but now I love it so I'd recommend trying it in different ways if you haven't. My favourites are firm tofu fried until the edges are crispy and then tossed in a sauce (I usually don't marinade it, I know most recipes do but I can never get it crispy enough with marinade and I think the sauce adds enough flavour) and the tofu puffs you can get in Asian shops.

Can I recommend Deliciously Ella, she has so many great recipes and doesn't use processed meat substitutes.

salt & rosemary focaccia is vegan, I think I could live off that and being quite happy

@NoveltyCereal oh good I'm glad. We use firm tofu in the same way you might use paneer in curries, fried first, so see if that helps you get used to it.