Truly delicious vegan food

Cafe Society
1

I’ve been having a mixed group to my house every week lately, and some of them are vegetarians, some have dairy allergies, and so on. So I’ve been looking for stuff like vegan cookies at Whole Foods.

But it made me think, while some foods can be made passable in vegan versions, such as baked goods, (and some stuff is, to my mind, atrocious, such as soy yogurt or tofurkey), there are some lovely foods that just happen to be vegan.

First thought was: chips and fresh salsa. I think this stuff is the food of the gods, and have to force myself to stop eating when I serve it. And yet, it has no animal products in it at all.

Second, and what prompted this thread: tonight’s dinner just coincidentally could be totally vegan. We’re having chickpea pasta soup with saffron, salad, and focaccia. I make the soup with chicken stock, but the recipe actually calls for water. And damn, is it good. Olive oil, garlic, fresh rosemary, saffron, tomato sauce, water (or broth), chickpeas, salt and pepper, and pasta. YUM.

So, partly out of gourmet curiosity, and partly out of a desire for preparedness in the face of vegan or restricted diet guests, share recipes that are delicious in their own right, and also happen to be vegan.

2

Try and find a risotto that doesn’t require butter or cheese (olive oil or another oil may substitute well for the butter, but I can’t think of a good substitute for cheese.

Now that I think of it, cheese is a good chunk of what makes risotto so wonderful, but I’m sure you could find a decent substitute and it’d be a great vegan-friendly dish.

3

Delicious and vegan just don’t belong in the same sentence. :smiley:

Chips and salsa is good. Pasta with marinara is good. Linguini Pomadoro. Look to soul food cookbooks for great recipes that can be modified by dropping the pork. Greens, potato salad, macaroni salad, beans, cole slaw, corn on the cob, smoked rice, sauteed okra, etc. A fresh loaf of bread or three, a bunch of side dishes and you’re good to go.

4

I bet there will be a lot of pasta responses! One of my favorites I’ve posted before, but since it’s so easy and so yummy, here it is again: Pasta with Tomatoes, Black Olives and Capers. It’s like a vegan puttanesca sauce. I like it with freshly grated parmesan on it, but that’s my own, non-vegan, addition.

5

How about palak paneer, with tofu instead of paneer? I’ve made that, and it works well. (I have to admit–there’s nothing better than using truly fresh paneer in palak paneer, but it tastes pretty good with tofu, too.)

If you don’t want to do Indian cuisine, maybe cold Thai-style noodle salads would work well. Or you could go Middle Eastern, and do a combo of baba ganouj, hummus, and tabouli with warm pita. You could even make falafel, with all the little chopped veggies and french fries. (Falafel’s more work than baba ganouj, hummus, and tabouli, though, and it leaves you with more mess to clean.)

6

Most of the recipes in Vegan Cupcakes take over the world are absolutely delicious. The Margarita Cupcakes are AMAZING. Literally the greatest dessert I’ve ever had - and I’m not vegan! :eek:

7

Also, I’m pretty sure vegans won’t eat egg noodles, so keep that in mind if you do any pasta dishes.

8

I make an awesome pasta salad that could easily be adapted by using vegan pasta and replacing the (cheese-laden) Italian dressing with a homemade version. I just use pasta, edamame, quinoa (those last two for protein), kalamatas and diced cukes. My husband Mr. Beefy McBenchpress packs it for lunch as a single item pretty often.

9

This thread is popping up at a very handy time…to make a long story short, I am looking for recipes for vegan cookies, preferably ones that don’t involve scary things like egg substitute with chemical ingredients that I can’t pronounce. I’ve got some dairy-free cookie recipes, but the eggs are an issue.

Des anyone have a recipe or two to recommend? I’m hoping to send these as a care package, so it should be something that will survive a few days in the mail. Thanks in advance!

10

silenus, don’t most pasta and potato salads contain mayonaise, which in turn contains eggs?

11

Standard recipes, yes. But more and more sources are modifying said recipes to allay fears of someone dying because the potato salad sat in the car for 15 minutes. Like this one (minus the hard-boiled eggs). Or this Greek version. Or this beauty, which I have made and highly recommend.

12

I’ve never done much soul food, but that’s an excellent idea. I wonder what you could add for that kick of savory pork products bring. Maybe some liquid smoke would cover part of it.

WhyNot, that sounds great, and best of all, everything comes from the pantry, so no planning required! And yeah, I was thinking that Spaghetti Aglio E Olio is perfect - just pasta, garlic, olive oil, maybe red pepper and parsley, and so good it’ll make your toes curl, even without that sprinkling of parmesan.

I like the idea of Thai - peanut noodles = yum!

Hmm, you’re married to the guy from Space Mutiny ? Cool!

You know, I wonder if you could make mayo using just vinegar/lemon juice, a generous dose of dry mustard, and oil, if you used the blender or Cuisinart to make the emulsion.

Oh, Eva Luna, I googled that vegan cupcake cookbook, and here is a recipe from an interview with the authors, FWIW:

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes - Vegan

For the cupcakes:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process or regular)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract or more vanilla extract
10 vegan chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Newman-O’s, coarsely chopped

For the frosting:
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine, such as Earth Balance
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted if clumpy
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain soy milk or soy creamer
5 vegan chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Newman-O’s, finely mashed, plus 6 of the cookies, cut in half, for garnish

For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 12 muffin cups with paper or aluminum foil liners.

In a medium bowl or on a large square of waxed paper, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the soy milk and vinegar; set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil and vanilla extract and other extract, if using, and beat until foamy. Add the dry ingredients in 2 increments, and beat until no large lumps remain (a few small lumps are okay). Add the chopped cookies to the batter, stirring just to combine. Spoon the batter into the liner cups, filling them three-quarters full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the shortening and margarine on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, until well combined and fluffy. Reduce speed to low to add the sugar until incorporated, and then increase to medium-high speed to beat for about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and soy milk or creamer; beat on the same speed for 5 to 7 minutes, until fluffy. Add the cookie crumbs, mixing well.

To assemble: Frost the cupcakes generously and top each cupcake with half of a sandwich cookie by inserting the cut end into the frosting. Store in a sealed container for up to 3 days.

Per frosted cupcake: 509 calories, 4 g protein, 66 g carbohydrates, 27 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 5 g saturated fat, 370 mg sodium, 2 g dietary fiber

13

Yup! It’s one of my emergency meals: “We have no food in the pantry except this can of olives and this one of toma — ah! Veggie Putty it is!” (That’s what the kids call it. It does have a certain ring to it.) I can always keep the ingredients on hand 'cause they’re not perishable, but the final product tastes nice and fresh and light.

That cupcake recipe looks…more than edible! I’m still skeptical of the texture of a baked good with no eggs, but I’ll give it a shot. I might have to sneak in a pinch of cinnamon without permission, though. Just to remember you by, of course. :wink:

14

Baked goods and traditionally meaty dishes don’t work well as vegan recipes, in my experience. However, a lot of soups and pasta dishes already are or can be turned vegan very easily.

What I’d really recommend, though, is looking outside of traditional European/North American food. Scribble is right that Indian food is a tasty source of vegan ideas, if you substitute olive oil for butter and don’t do paneer. Also, stir-fries and Thai curries can be done as vegan dishes very easily. My favorite vegan recipe, which is in the Sundays at Moosewood cookbook is a Chinese recipe for walnut-stuffed tofu. Man alive, it’s good stuff!

Beans and rice are a good with fresh salsa are a great vegan dish, and you can add cheese for the non-vegans.

15

The original Moosewood Cookbook has a fantastic recipe for stuffed acorn or butternut squash. I’ll post it when I get home, but it involves fresh mushrooms, bread crumbs, onion and garlic, dried apricots and cranberries, herbs… oh, it’s goooood. The regular ol’ vegetarian version has a small amount of cheddar in it, but it doesn’t make much difference to do the vegan version and skip the cheese.

Great recipe for holidays.

16

I just realized that one of my favorite recipes is, technically, vegan:

Chickpea Salad

2 TB red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium sweet mild onion, like a Maui or a red onion, sliced
2 stalks celery with leaves, chopped
1 carrot, grated
12 kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1 can of chickpeas, drained
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 medium tomato, diced
handful of chopped Italian parsley

Whisk together the oil and vinegar in a big bowl, and add the garlic and onions. Let it sit a few minutes - the acid in the vinegar will considerably mellow down the strong raw flavor. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the tomato and parsley and toss well to combine. Let it sit for awhile in the fridge to let the flavors combine. Just before serving, add the tomato and parsley. Serve it on lettuce leaves, if you like.

This can easily be transformed into a non-vegan dish by adding some top-quality olive oil-packed mediterranean tuna.

17

A good risotto can be creamy without any cheese necessary. I personally prefer making mine in a pressure cooker with truffle oil added at the end.

18

Rising Moon has an excellent vegan stuffed pasta…It’s butter nut squash ravioli. I like to boil the pasta like regular, drain it, and add some olive oil to keep it from sticking.

Then I take some olive oil in a pan and saute some pecans (I guess you could use any nut you like, we like pecans), after they are toasty, I add the pasta in until it gets a little browned all around. Fresh ground pepper, maybe a little basil and some kosher salt.

It is so good. We are total carnivores, but we love this vegan meal.

Oh, and you can get Rising Moon ravioli at Whole Foods. I suggest one package per person for a main course. Half a package for side courses.

19

I make apple pie as a vegan dish - I normally use 1/2 crisco and 1/2 butter in the crust, but a 100% crisco crust isn’t bad.

To the person who suggested macaroni salad - I’m not sure how you’d make that vegan?

20

Egg-free salad dressing. Then just leave out whatever meat or cheese you usually add to the macaroni salad and substitute another vegetable, like diced green pepper.