The Veg*nism Thread

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Seriouslt though, have you ever tried making them yourself? Fresh from a deep-frier and tossed into a liba-bread with some veggies?
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I work at a place which get a lot of diffrent dietary restrictions due to health issues and the like, so I have some experience with vegetarian/vegan food. That said, I'm no expert (and I'm not a vegan/vegetarian myself), but we do everything from simple oven roasted veggies to relatively simple homemade vegan patties/falafels and deepdishes. I have some recipes if anyone's interested.
Oven roast veg is a favourite of our family, love falafels too and homemade hummus



Seriouslt though, have you ever tried making them yourself? Fresh from a deep-frier and tossed into a liba-bread with some veggies?
I don't know about you, but vegans tend to stop visiting restaurants altogether, let alone pursue deep-fried foods.

I've enjoyed fried onion blossom, but I haven't had that in years.
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“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
I don't know about you, but vegans tend to stop visiting restaurants altogether, let alone pursue deep-fried foods.

I've enjoyed fried onion blossom, but I haven't had that in years.
Anthony Bourdain doesn't recommend vegetarian requests to any self-respecting chef.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Is it safe to come out yet? *peeks out of covers*


So, any vegans want to add what foods their diet mostly consists of? Or what meals they recommend?


Disclaimer. Non vegans can also participate providing they list vegan food.
Black beans, spinach, natural peanut butter, soymilk, Orgain powder, blueberries, bannanas, cereal. I eat that during the week for ease of prep more than anything.



Anthony Bourdain doesn't recommend vegetarian requests to any self-respecting chef.
Well Anthony needs all the respect he can give himself, because he's certainly not earning it from other people at that rate.



the samoan lawyer's Avatar
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I work at a place which get a lot of diffrent dietary restrictions due to health issues and the like, so I have some experience with vegetarian/vegan food. That said, I'm no expert (and I'm not a vegan/vegetarian myself), but we do everything from simple oven roasted veggies to relatively simple homemade vegan patties/falafels and deepdishes. I have some recipes if anyone's interested.

Fire ahead.
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Is it safe to come out yet? *peeks out of covers*


So, any vegans want to add what foods their diet mostly consists of? Or what meals they recommend?


Disclaimer. Non vegans can also participate providing they list vegan food.
My wife's been vegan for about a year and a half now. She eats a lot of fresh fruit and makes a lot of fruit smoothies (frozen bananas make a good base, then mix in whatever you want to flavor it: berries, coco powder, peanut butter, mint, etc. Frozen butternut squash or mangoes also make a good smoothie. If you want you can mix in a little kale or spinach or something. Sounds weird but you don't even notice it and it's probably better for you.), sweet potatoes, and curries (we live in a heavily-Indian part of the US and can easily find cheap spices).

About once a week we make Tacos usually with black beans or re-fried beans. Occasionally we'll use textured vegetable protein (with seasoning I don't even miss ground beef tacos) or lentils (also recommended with some sort of seasoning). Some other common week-night dishes are pasta (cauliflower, marinara or some other sauce, fake meatballs or sausage), chili (beans, chickpeas, corn, potatoes, peppers and carrots - Rebecca usually makes a big thing of this and then freezes a bunch) and stir-fry (press the tofu the night before, occasionally frozen foods of various kinds. About once every weak or two we'll just do some sort of frozen dinner thing.

I have a smaller repertoire that is usually a bit more involved (mostly cadged from Isa Chandra Moskowitz cookbooks - I especially like Appetite for Reduction -- I think the "reduction" part just comes from the fact that her recipes call for a minimum of oil): fried rice (the secret is shallots), buffalo tempeh (this one can actually be done pretty quickly once you master it), or a fancy tofu dish (a recent favorite is the hoisin lettuce wraps from the Moskowitz book I mentioned).

Tabbouleh and pesto are good things to make in bulk so you can reuse them for lunches or dinners later in the week. Most recipes you'll find online for both of these call for too much oil, IMO. You can probably get away with (at most) half the suggested oil dose, but if you're not comfortable going off recipe maybe start with two-thirds the first time, and then add or subtract to your liking. For the Tabbouleh I use bulgur wheat instead of couscous or quinoa. It's just as good, is much cheaper (where I live anyway) and probably better for you than couscous. I really like Basil pesto. Instead of cheese use nutritional yeast. I substitute walnuts for pine-nuts since they're generally cheaper.

Once in a while we'll make pizza, nachos or chili-cheese fries. For the fries I recommend Amy's or some other brand of canned vegan chili. The vegan cheese we use on all three is Daiya. I think the difference with dairy cheese is more noticeable with the mozzarella, but then again I'm a life-long pizza addict (this is the main reason I'm not vegan - I still eat pizza once or twice a week).



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”

Once in a while we'll make pizza, nachos or chili-cheese fries. For the fries I recommend Amy's or some other brand of canned vegan chili. The vegan cheese we use on all three is Daiya. I think the difference with dairy cheese is more noticeable with the mozzarella, but then again I'm a life-long pizza addict (this is the main reason I'm not vegan - I still eat pizza once or twice a week).

Please expound on Daiya. The internet seems to rant or rave about it. It would be good to hear what a real person has to say about it. Some would have you believe it is the form the Antichrist has chosen to take.



Any tips on Tofu? I tried some the other day in some curry. Pressed it but not for long, maybe like half hour. It wasn't rubbery, but really soft like my teeth went right through it and you hardly notice it, I think it had a slight ting of pumpkin. Apparently the best thing to do is prepare it the night before (as lines mentions), for an hour or two, then freeze it overnight, and let it defrost the next day, and gently squeeze out any remaining water before you use it.



Make sure you get it without lard.

Please expound on Daiya. The internet seems to rant or rave about it. It would be good to hear what a real person has to say about it. Some would have you believe it is the form the Antichrist has chosen to take.
I've tried a small handful of vegan cheese brands and they all taste really weird to me. Daiya in particular was a bad first impression.

The best I've come across is Field Roast Grain Meat Chao Cheese.






Please expound on Daiya. The internet seems to rant or rave about it. It would be good to hear what a real person has to say about it. Some would have you believe it is the form the Antichrist has chosen to take.
I don't use Daiya because I think it's the best or anything, it's just what my local grocery store stocks in the way of non-dairy cheese. I find it's pretty good if you use it somewhat conservatively. When we make pizza with it I try not to use as much "cheese" as if I were using mozzarella, for example. The consistency seems odd to me, particularly when it melts, but that could be something you just get used to once you stop eating cheese. Rebecca says she doesn't notice it at all anymore. Also be aware that it can go bad so if you open the package and don't think you'll finish it within the week you may want to freeze it (it's pretty much the same after it's been frozen).

Any tips on Tofu? I tried some the other day in some curry. Pressed it but not for long, maybe like half hour. It wasn't rubbery, but really soft like my teeth went right through it and you hardly notice it, I think it had a slight ting of pumpkin. Apparently the best thing to do is prepare it the night before (as lines mentions), for an hour or two, then freeze it overnight, and let it defrost the next day, and gently squeeze out any remaining water before you use it.
You might want to start by checking what tofu you're using. The brands I get make "soft", "firm", and "extra firm" varieties. Other than that and what you say about pressing/freezing, you might also try cutting it smaller than the recipe recommends. I find it both cooks better and absorbs sauces/marinades better, the smaller it is (probably a combination of less volume per piece/more surface area overall). I have a recipe that uses half-inch cubes fried in a pan and they end up pretty chewy that way. Likewise before pressing it you might want to cut the block into two thinner blocks first.