[quote Cormoran]@Chingchok a lot of vegans ignore the VEGan part and will just focus on what they don't eat. Your son likes VEGgies, great. Make sure to include tofu (always buy extra-firm) , lentils, beans, of all colours and shape.
As others have already said, soya milk is nutritionally superior to oats or almonds.
A great variety of vegetables will cover most minerals. Nutritional yeast is a vitamin B bomb. Don't fall into the trap of the "Fakes", fake burger, fake sausage, fake whatever. Of course, occasionally they are fine, but if they become the core of the diet, a daily presence, it is unhealthy for a growing body and growing brain. I know you already have excluded these.
Don't ignore seeds as well. Flax seeds on top of oats are very beneficial for the gut microbiome. Chia seeds are quite versatile for chia puddings for breakfast. Quinoa is a complete protein and very tasty,
You can make seeds crackers and serve them with tapenade . Look at Middle Eastern recipe books for delicious meals involving chickpeas. You can make socca - here a recipe in English cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014757-socca-farinata - I use 2/3 chickpea flour and 1/3 plain.
I have guests all the time - well I had, pre-covid - and they would be served a vegan dinner without even realising it. Polenta chips, tofu fingers, minestrone, onion soup, hummus and other dips, oven-roasted leeks, tabbouleh , apple crumble, .tomato bruschetta, ...
You need to be mindful of calcium and where to source it. If giving a supplement, you also need a K2 supplement to direct the calcium to the bones.
Lemon with his iron-rich food will increase absorption.
Edamame is a dead easy to prepare as a nutrient-packed snack. A pot of boiling water, empty edamame bag, cook for 7 minutes, drain and dry, add a bit of salt.
For school lunches think focaccia, socca (recipe above) , chickpea muffin , arancini, roasted veggie pinwheels, ...
Vegan can be delicious and mouth watering. When I bake, and I bake a lot, I just substitute olive oil for butter - and will add vanilla extract to mask taste - and egg replacer powder . Plenty of cakes. I will occasionally do cheesecakes with coconut oil but once a year maybe.
When I do a vegan bolognese with roasted tofu crumbles or lentils, a few drops of liquid smoke will add the meaty flavour.
Don't worry too much about vitamin D. UK is sun-phobic so the majority of the population is deficient.
I know I said it already, but you need to supplement. B12 is a MUST, EPA-DHA (I use DEVA 500 mg EPA-DHA, I take 2 grams, so 4 per day, but your son should take 1 gr, a big pill but no effect on digestion , no burps , by far the best I have tried ) , Vitamin D, as the bare minimum.
A quality multivitamin, once or twice a week - not a supermarket gummies - and a brand that is third party tested such as Thorne . More expensive, but supplement are a jungle, no regulation .[/quote]
Thank you for this comprehensive post. You made me realise we already do a lot of this, even down to the socca. Tofu in this part of the world is made from various things, not just soybeans - we love the yellow pea flour version, eaten hot as porridge then cut into cubes - or chickpea flour. We also eat the tofu skin, yuba, fresh, although Japanese restaurants often use fish based sauces. Thanks for the reminder about seeds - I’ve stocked up again and will make sure to add them more frequently. I guess ultimately it’s about practice and confidence 🙏