Like most families, we are VERY busy. We are 2 full-time (work outside the home) parents, we have a competitive gymnast, piano lessons, swimming lessons, 2 hockey players, baseball, and a 3 year old Golden Retriever. I usually don’t have time to read and follow recipes. I need fast and easy meals most nights!
People always ask what kind of vegan meals I prepare. I think the assumption is that we eat a lot of salad. Honestly, we don’t eat a ton of raw veggies because they are so hard on our tummies! Before we started eating vegan, I had my “go-to recipes” and it was very convenient.
Now, I have my go-to vegan recipes. Here are my top 10!
1. Pizza with Costco pizza crust
(The brand is called Molinaro’s Organic Pizza Crust). This crust is awesome because it’s not too thick AND it comes with the sauce. They also give you a bag for freezing the leftover crusts. All you need to do is put the sauce on and slice up any veggies you have in your fridge. It’s also a great way to use up any leftover veggies. In the spring and summer I snip some herbs from my garden and throw those on there too!
***Typically I use- mushrooms, peppers, roasted red peppers from a jar (Trader Joe’s), fresh basil, zucchini, onion, oregano. We aren’t HUGE vegan cheese fans but occasionally I will throw on a few shreds of Daiya Cheese (or vegan cheese shreds from Aldi) under the veggies just to make it look a little more like a regular pizza. I bake it for twice as long as the Molinaro’s package instructions.
2. Stir Fry with Tofu
Ingredients: tofu, any veggies, stir fry sauce from Trader Joes- I use Soyaki).
I love to make stir fries to use up a TON of veggies. I buy the tofu from Trader Joe’s (I prefer the extra firm). They also sell packs at Costco.
- Open the package and wrap it in paper towel to press out the water from it.
- You can marinate the tofu but I never have the time, so I just stir fry it in a touch of oil and set it aside.
- Chop your veggies – mushrooms, peppers, onions, broccoli, and zucchini
- Cook them up in a little oil.
- Add the sauce and tofu after the veggies are cooked and you have a super fast meal.
- I usually make a bunch of edamame with the stir fry and serve it on the side for EXTRA protein.
3. One Pot Curry noodles
I use this recipe from www.ohmyveggies.com I ordered the red curry paste from amazon. I also add peppers/cauliflower/broccoli for some bonus veggies.
4. Black Bean and sweet potato Tacos
Ingredients: corn, black beans, sweet potatoes, chili powder, paprika, cumin, lime, avocado, jalapeño, purple onion, cilantro, corn tortillas, salt
- Peel and chop up sweet potatoes.
- Throw them in a bowl with a little veggie broth so the spices stick.
- Season with chili powder, cumin and paprika.
- Roast in the oven at 425 for 25-30 mins.
- While the sweet potatoes are roasting, drain 2 cans of black beans and blend them in a blender or food processor. (You could also just buy black re-fried beans to make it even easier)
- Chop avocado into small pieces and add onion, lime and cilantro. Chop jalapeño and add desired amount to the avocado mixture. Season with salt. Mix together to make the “avocado salsa”
- Toast corn tortillas. I do this directly over a low flame on the stove. Top with black beans, sweet potatoes, any kind of corn (Trader Joe’s has frozen roasted corn), and avocado salsa.
5. Pasta/Vegan Ravioli with Vegan Italian sausage, Bruschetta with Pesto
Ingredients: vegan ravioli from whole foods, marinara sauce- I like the organic from Costco, basil, nutritional yeast from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, baguette, tomatoes, balsamic, vegan sausage from Trader Joes or whole foods, garlic, pine nuts or cashews, veggie broth
- Cook the pasta or ravioli according to package instructions.
- Grill vegan Italian Sausage for 5-7 minutes (turning every 2 minutes)
- Top pasta with marinara and vegan sausage.
Instructions for the pesto- (This amazing recipe is from my amazing sister in law, Shel!)
*I make the pesto in my Blendtec blender
- Spread 1 cup of pine nuts or cashews on a cookie sheet and roast for a few minutes in the oven (400°). After they are done roasting, cool them (Usually I throw them in the freezer because I am in a crazy hurry!)
- Add to the to the blender (I like to use the twister jar which is a smaller jar for Blendtec blenders) the roasted nuts, ¼ cup of nutritional yeast, a large handful of fresh basil, a couple of cloves of garlic, and a little splash veggie broth to thin it out. Blend!
- Chop tomatoes and add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.
- Slice baguette and toast in the oven.
- Top baguette with pesto and chopped tomatoes.
6. Green Curry bowl
Ingredients: brown rice, spinach, cauliflower, sliced peppers, 2 cans of garbanzo beans, curry, turmeric, brown rice, salt and pepper, garlic powder
- Chop cauliflower and put in a large bowl with some veggie broth so the spices stick. Sprinkle with curry, turmeric, salt. Roast in the oven for 20 mins or longer if you like it crispy.
- Drain and rinse 2 cans of garbanzo beans. Dry the beans with paper towel. Season with garlic powder, curry, turmeric, salt and pepper. Roast for 20 mins.
- On each bowl or plate, add a handful of raw spinach, sliced peppers (I use yellow, red and orange for more colors), roasted cauliflower, chickpeas and brown rice (I buy the frozen brown rice from Trader Joe’s and microwave it for 3 mins.
- Heat up Thai Green Curry sauce (from Trader Joe’s) and spread it over the veggie/rice/garbanzo bowl.
7. Veggie Baguette sandwiches
Ingredients: toasted baguette, hummus, veggies- cucumber, peppers, onion, avocado, lettuce/spinach, oregano, basil, vegan mayo, sprinkle with Everything but the Bagel seasoning from Trader Joe’s
- Toast the baguette in the oven for 5 minutes at 400°.
- Spread hummus (I usually just buy at the store but making iti n the blender with no oil makes my hubby happy)
- Slice cucumbers, peppers, onion and avocado
- Spread veggies on the hummus and then top with herbs and seasoning
8. Butternut squash soup
Ingredients: 1 large sweet potato, 2 carrots, 1 bag of frozen butternut squash or 1 package of pre-cut butternut squash, cilantro, lime, brown rice, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), curry powder, turmeric, ginger, garlic
- Turn instant pot to saute. Add a little veggie broth or water to the pot and saute onion, garlic and ginger.
- Add butternut squash (I buy the frozen from Whole foods or the pre-cut from Costco. They have it seasonally at Aldi too), peeled and chopped sweet potato and a few chopped carrots.
- Season with salt, curry, turmeric, garam masala, and a little cayenne pepper.
- Add 4 cups of veggie broth.
- Pressure cook for 12 minutes and then do a quick release of the pressure.
- Blend the veggies in a blender or with a stick blender. Then add 1 can of coconut milk (I use the reduced fat) and stir.
- Serve soup with toppings of brown rice, pumpkin seeds, cilantro and lime.
9. Grilled Portobello mushroom Burgers
Ingredients: spinach or lettuce, buns, portobellos, hummus, tomato
- You can marinate the portobellos in soy sauce and vegan Worcestershire sauce. I never have time and just throw them on the grill for about 5-7 minutes on each side.
- I like to use Rudi’s hamburger buns from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. I throw them on the upper rack on the grill to toast them a bit.
- Spread buns with hummus. Top with lettuce, tomato, and the portobello.
10. Grilled veggies with coconut rice and black beans
Ingredients: sweet peppers, sweet corn, zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, rice, coconut milk, black beans, lime, cilantro.
- I make the coconut rice in my instant pot with this recipe from www.feedingourflamingos.com
- Drain and rinse 2 cans of black beans. I just heat them in the microwave.
- Chop up veggies and sprinkle with veggie broth. I season them with a no sodium veggie seasoning. Put them on a grilling tray or basket. Grill until lightly browned.
- Mix coconut rice with black beans and then top with veggies. I sprinkle with cilantro and lime. You can also add sliced avocado for extra yumminess!
