My mother has recently decided to become one of those evangelical vegans who tries to convert everyone she knows. I’m willing to give it a shot for various reasons that I won’t get into here, but there’s a slight problem in that I’m allergic to soy and it’s used in great quantities in so many things, especially when it comes to vegan recipes. It seems like most processed foods have soybean oil or other soy products as fillers and, of course, tofu is entirely out.
Does anyone have recipes for vegan dishes that don’t use soy but will still have plenty of protein? As it is now, it looks like if I seriously try this I’ll be eating lots and lots of salads and nuts.
I have a delicious vegen “Sloppy Joe” recipe it’s made with lentils which is a decent source or protein. I’ll email it to you.
We also often make a stirfry using cashews as the main protein source, and I’m pretty sure my fiancee has recipes that use almonds as a protein source.
You can also get rice milk and almond milk as a non-soy substitue for dairy. I find the rice milk a little tough to cook with though. There are also rice-based cheeses, but some of them still contain casein which many vegans won’t touch.
heh, foxy, beat me to it i just popped back to say viva usa’s guides, especially the vegan basics one, might be useful. The rest of the site will give you inspiration to stick to the diet anyway.
Thanks a lot for the recipes and links! This makes me much more confident that I will not, in fact, be living off of salad and nuts. It seemed like every vegan recipe I looked at called for tofu or soymilk and I was getting concerned.
One really great book that doesn’t rely on soy as the main source of protein is The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein. She even gives nutritional breakdowns. You’d be surprised how much protein certain grains contain.
You may also want to look at* Diet for a New America* and Diet for a New World, both by John Robbins. He’s a bit of a zealot, but there’s some good information in both. If your concern is that you won’t get enough protein, or that you won’t be able to eat a varied diet, these books will certainly lay those fears to rest. Diet for a New World also includes a number of vegan recipes that don’t rely on soy. And, frankly, soy really shouldn’t be the centerpiece of a balanced vegan diet. You’ll do better with, for example, beans, grains, and fresh vegetables as a centerpiece. Good luck!
i just popped back to say 