My previous submission of Butternut Squash Soup (note that I eliminated the yogurt because I didn’t know at the time if a vegan substitute existed, but as my next linked post shows, I later learned there was such a thing).
My previous submission of Toasted Spinach Sandwiches
I’m sure you can, since you can buy a vegan mayo.
I’ll also add to the list, stuffed artichokes – YUM! Try this recipe.
That does look tasty, but given the thread, it’s worth pointing out that it calls for sour cream.
Sub Imo for the sour cream and you’re good to go.
I’ve got a recipe for vegan minestrone which both vegans and non-vegans like. It’s one which was in Cooks Illustrated a while ago, and I make it vegan by omitting the Parmesan cheese rind. The latest Penzey’s One magazine also has a recipe for a no bowl cake which I think is vegan and which I know tastes good. Both are pretty simple to make, although the minestrone takes a lot of chopping!
I make this for lunch a lot. Serve with bread and/or salad.
Spicy Tomato Soup
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (26-ounce) jar marinara sauce
2 (14-ounce) cans vegetable broth
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Warm the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, onion, and garlic and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the jar of marinara sauce, broth, cannellini beans, red pepper flakes, pasta, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls and serve.
These two recipes are both vegan and kick-ass. Enjoy!
Black Bean Soup
10 sun-dried tomatoes
1 onion
3-6 minced garlic cloves
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 or more teaspoons cumin
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
Generous pinch of red pepper flakes
2 16-oc cans of black beans
Salt and black pepper to taste
¼ c. chopped cilantro if you have it (it’s tasty, but not essential)
In a small bowl or mug, pour boiling water over the sun-dried tomatoes and set aside.
Over medium heat, in a large saucepan or soup pot, saute the onions and garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the cumin, tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the black beans and their liquid and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, drain and chop the sundried tomatoes. Add them to the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste and more spices if desired. Let simmer for at least 10 more minutes. Add the cilantro, remove from heat. Puree half the soup in a blender. Return it to the pot and continue to simmer over low heat for at least 15 minutes—longer is better, though.
Mushroom-Barley Soup
½ c. uncooked pearl barley
6 ½ c. water or vegetable stock or a combination
2 or 3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
½ to 1 tsp. salt
3 to 4 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 to 4 Tbsp. sherry, white wine or red wine (whatever you have on hand)
lots and lots of freshly ground black pepper
Place the barley and 1 ½ c, of liquid in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until the barley is tender (around 30 minutes).
While the barley is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and saute over medium heat until the onions are lightly browned. Add garlic, mushrooms, and ½ tsp. salt. Cover and cook until the mushrooms release their juices and everything is very tender (about 10 to 15 minutes). Stir in the soy sauce and wine.
Add this mixture with all its liquid to the cooked barley, along with the remaining five cups of water or stock. Grind in a good amount of black pepper and simmer over low heat for at least another 20 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.
I recomend Isa Chandra Moskovitz “Vegan with a Vengeance” cookbook or find your way over to “Post Punk Kitchen” online. She’s the same woman who wrote “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World” above. Like burundi said, the only way to eat vegan food is to go international. I had a vegan friend in law school who was a ripe hand at Indian (which she claimed was the #1 friendly vegan friendly cuisine). However, Moskovitz has vegan versions of stuff like beef stroganoff and whatnot that draw rave reviews from carnivorous reviewers on Amazon. Plus, she shows you how to make your own tempeh and everything, and focuses on fresh ingredients instead of a lot of processed soy stuff.
I am really surprised she has not included a section on chapatis, which my fish-eating-bred parents now make with silken tofu…and they are a THOUSAND times better than when they made them with buttermilk or just plain water. I mean, the mouthfeel of these chapatis, they’re pure white and melt in your mouth.
Many of the recipes are on the Post Punk Kitchen website but there are some that are just in the book. It’s a bit expensive but I think if you’re going to buy a Vegan cookbook, hers is the best.
As promised, from The Moosewood Cookbook:
Serves 4
2 medium winter squash, halved and prebaked (acorn or butternut)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup minced onion
1/2 lb. mushrooms, minced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
Lots of black pepper
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. thyme
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 raisins or craisins
2 cups good bread crumbs (from good bread)
6 - 8 dried apricots, chopped
OPTIONAL: 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add mushrooms, garlic, celery and seasonings and saute about 10 minutes, until everything is tender and well mingled.
Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well. Taste to correct seasonings.
Preheat oven to 350F. Fill the prebaked squash and bake, covered, until heated through (20 - 30 minutes).
Delish!!
I like this one, because you don’t have to keep it hot or cold, and you can tinker with the veggies to suit whoever’s going to eat it. I substitute roasted red peppers for the tomatoes, and sometimes parsley or oregano for the cilantro.
Quinoa Salad
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 small stalk celery, diced
1 small green pepper, seeded and diced
2 Tbsp. minced jalapeno pepper
1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro (optional; if you hate cilantro, sub the herb of your choice)
¼ cup fresh lime or lemon juice
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. low sodium soy sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Boil water and add quinoa. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, 15 minutes or until quinoa is tender. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Transfer quinoa to large bowl and cool to room temperature.
Add cucumber, tomatoes, onion, celery, green and jalapeno peppers, and cilantro (or your herb of choice). Toss gently to combine.
Combine everything else in a separate bowl and stir thoroughly. Pour over salad and toss to coat everything.
Hummus is always safe. My version is something like the following:
1 can of chickpeas (yeah, I know you’re supposed to get the dried ones, then cook and peel them, but I’m way too lazy). Moosh 'em up with a fork in a mixing bowl.
Add the juice of 1 good-sized lemon. Stir. Moosh up some of the chickpeas that you inevitably missed mooshing the first time.
Render a clove of garlic into a paste via the knife-n-salt method. Add to the bowl.
Add in a few glugs of good olive oil. Stir, moosh some more.
Add a couple good-sized spoonfuls of tahini.
Add salt to taste. Start with a couple good sized pinches. Add fresh-ground black pepper to taste. Dump in some cumin if you want.
Mix and adjust whatever needs adjusting.
Imam Bayildi is fantastic.
It’s a wonderful dish of Turkish origin that consists of eggplants stuffed/mixed with tomatoes, garlic, and onions, all cooked up in loads of olive oil.
I don’t have a specific recipe for you - I grew up eating it in my (half) Armenian household, which had its own twists, but a million variations exist, all of them delicious no doubt. Google it and pick your favorite.
In general, I find that Turks and Caucasians do a damn good job with vegetable-based dishes.
Here’s a very quick recipe:
Avocado, tomato, and cucumber salad.
Quantities all to taste - for a starter, I suggest half an avocado.
(Comfort food version)
Peel and dice avocado.
Skin and dice tomato.
Dice cucumber
Mix
Souse with vinaigrette.
Serve.
(Fancy version)
Slice the ingredients and arrange them on a plate.
Drizzle with vinaigrette.
Serve
Wow, so many great ideas. Now I’m a little bit sad that summer’s coming on, because mushroom barley soup and stuffed winter squash are much more cold weather dishes. Eh, maybe I’ll do them on a rainy day, even if it is 95 degrees out.
I’m definitely checking out Moosewood and Vegan with a Vengeance (I love the attitude of the PPK website). Originally this thread was more about accommodating others, but lots of these recipes sound so great, I may work a couple vegan days into the week. Lord knows I could use less animal fat in my diet, and somehow when I cook vegetarian dishes, loads of cheese are always involved!
I actually made a vaguely Thai cold noodle salad last weekend, and it was pretty darn tasty. And, without the chicken, totally vegan. So here you go:
Boil up some water for the noodles (I used fettucine, but any long noodle is fine. I don’t know how rice sticks/cellophane noodles would work). While it’s boiling, dice some garlic and some ginger, maybe a tablespoon’s worth of each. Stick the garlic and ginger in a bowl, and add equal parts sesame oil and soy sauce, maybe two and a half tablespoons each. When the water’s boiling, toss in your noodles to cook, and chop up some scallions for garnish. In the last few minutes of cooking (one or two should be plenty), throw in some pre-washed sugar snap peas and/or asparagus and/or snow peas and/or whatever veggie sounds good at the time. Once the pasta is al dente, drain the whole shebang and rinse well with cold water. Throw the pasta and veggies back in the pot and add the sesame dressing. Toss. Stick it on a plate and add some scallions. Slurp away.
You can leave it like that for a side dish or add some tofu to make it more of a meal. Tigers & Strawberries has some good advice on tofu.
A couple other thoughts:
Black bean soup (beans, onion, garlic, carrot, tomatoes, cumin), serve over rice with fresh salsa
lentil soup
split-pea soup
pasta e fagiole, or other pasta w/beans (my favorite pasta has broccoli, cannelini, garlic, tomatoes and olive oil)
miso soup with tofu
Here are my faves:
RATATOUILLE
1 eggplant
salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 can peeled tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
pepper
Cut unpeeled eggplant into long strips, then cut strips down to about finger-length size. Put in colander,
sprinkle with salt, and let drain for half an hour.
Heat olive oil. Saute onion in it for 5 minutes, then add peppers, garlic, and tomatoes and stir well. Mix in
thyme and oregano.
Rinse eggplant and dry it. Add to pan. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring now and then, til soft–about 20-30 minutes.
Season to taste w/salt and pepper. Can be served hot or at room temperature. We had it on rice and it was superb.
Chunky Chickpea Salad Sandwich
4 15-oz cans garbanzo beans, drained
2 stalks celery chopped
2 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 small chopped green bell pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups lite silken tofu (firm), drained
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. liquid Fruitsource (honey will work)
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. capers, drained (optional)
1 tsp. garlic powder
Place garbanzo beans in a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork. Add the next 5 ingredients. Place the tofu in food processor, and blend. Add the next 4 ingredients, and process until smooth. Add the tofu mixture to the garbanzo mixture; add capers. Mix well, and chill 4 hours or until ready to make sandwich. This makes 8 really thick sandwiches.
Whole wheat sourdough really makes this sandwich. Pita bread also works well. Put soy mayo on on slice of bread and mustard on the other. Pile on the chunky salad, tomato, sprinkle some salt and pepper, romaine lettuce, and alfalfa sprouts.
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burrito
(from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook)
5 cups peeled cubed sweet potatoes
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons canola or other vegetable oil
3 ½ cups diced onions
4 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon minced fresh green chili
4 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons ground coriander
4 ½ cups cooked black beans (three 15-ounce cans, drained)
2/3 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
8 eight-inch flour tortillas (I used whole wheat)
Preheat oven 350.
Place the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with the salt and water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
While the sweet potatoes are cooking, warm the oil in a medium skillet or saucepan and add the onions, garlic, and chili. Cover and cook on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a food processor, combine the black beans, cilantro, lemon juice, salt, and cooked sweet potatoes and puree until smooth. Or you can mash it with a potato masher. The texture will just be different. Transfer the sweet potato mixture to a large mixing bowl and mix in the cooked onions and spices.
Lightly oil a large baking dish. Spoon about 2/3 to ¾ cup of the filling in the center of each tortilla, roll it up, and place it, seam side down, in the baking dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake for about 30 minutes, until piping hot. Serve topped with fresh salsa.
Unauthorized Cinnamon,
At least with many eastern cuisines, the replacement calorie-loader for animal fats (like butter and cheese) is oils. For Indian food you have to “fry” spices in oil before adding in other stuff to release the flavours. If your intent is to reduce these types of fats I’d recommend getting one decent pot-I bought a Calphalon on a Mother’s Day sale from Macy’s one year for $30 (originally $90) and now I need MAX 1 tablespoon oil. Another thing I really had to learn with Indian food was modulating heat, which, depending on your skill level, speed and type of range, may require close attention. When I first started out I couldn’t figure out why I could cook decent East Asian but I was so damn bad at Indian food (I am Indian myself). In the last couple of years I’ve figured out how to modulate the temp based on what point I am at in the cooking (this is on electric range).
I love PPK! I think it’s sounds a little non-spicey but she’s really charming and the desserts are amazing.